As If It's Our Last
by noblecrescent
Summary: After the Hollow separated the Mikaelsons, the Quarter has peace for 7 years...until Hope Mikaelson ignites the fuel for a new war against hybrids. Despite unable to be together due to the Hollow, Maleny & Klaus each return to the Quarter to figure out who's targeting their hybrid kinds. But once there, their feelings for each other are inevitable. Tick, tock goes their time...
1. After The End

**Author's Note:** _Hello and welcome to my fourth story of the Originals involving my OC Maleny Rowan (pronounced as 'Mah-leh-nee') and Klaus Mikaelson. For any new readers I would recommend you go back to the previous three stories (titled The Girl in the Forest, Under the Same Stars, and World Enough & Time) which are on my profile so that you can understand where Maleny came from and her history with the Mikaelsons. You don't have to, just a recommendation! This story will cover the entire season 5 of the Originals with my own modifications._

_For visual references, I imagine Maleny to look like the actress **Angelique Boyer** in her blonde days.  
Marlenie Mikaelson looks like the actress **Fabiola G**__**uajardo** but with blue eyes.  
Lastly, Nicolas Mikaelson looks like the actor __**Polo Morín**._

_Enjoy the story!_

* * *

A humid air blew in through an open window where a petite blonde woman was gazing out from. Her shiny blue eyes followed the ocean's waves that seemed to crash stronger with each second.

"Resurgemus ola, resurgemus ola, resurgemus ola…" she whispered over and over. Her pink lips curled into a proud smile after one particular wave crashed stronger than the others before it. "Resurgemus-"

"Maleny, I should think by now you know better than to mess with something as dangerous as the ocean," a taller, older blonde woman lightly scolded.

Maleny Rowan looked away from the window - instantly making the waves revert back to their natural strength - and saw her mother sternly waiting for her to step away from the window. "There are no humans in the ocean, mother. It's dawn."

But Abigail Rowan took her witch's abilities quite serious. After being dead for a thousand years, she took nature as law and nature forbade unnecessary dangerous spells for humans. "Dawn is when the surfers begin to rise."

Maleny returned her gaze to the ocean, which was, as she had said, empty of any swimmers. She tilted her head and stared in silence, this time not attempting another spell. "I dreamt about it again…"

Abigail turned away from her daughter and walked over to the vanity desk. Maleny's bedroom was a mess and the hotel housekeeper was about to make her rounds soon enough. "Come and clean this up-"

"You're not going to listen to me anymore about the dreams?" Maleny stayed right where she was. "Have I finally driven you mad with them?"

Abigail's smile was a secretive one, a sad one, but she kept it hidden from Maleny by going around and picking some clothes off the floor. "It's not that, dear. Dreams are only that: dreams. And for a vampire who's lived a thousand years, I'm sure your mind has come up with the wildest of dreams."

"But they're...they're weird," Maleny whispered, hoping to remember more of her recent dream. "You say I've lived for a thousand years as a vampire but this dream...I lived as a witch for a thousand years, but...but there was pain. A lot of pain." Her hand came to her chest, precisely over her heart. "There was this coven, and they stabbed me...I think-I think I was being sacrificed."

Abigail had pushed away her fears and put on her best smile. She turned around to Maleny and even chuckled. "Believe me, you have been a vampire for a thousand years now. Don't you remember how you turned?"

Maleny's eyes drifted to the side in thought. For a second, Abigail thought Maleny would remember she'd actually only been a vampire for about 12 years.

"I was turned...by an Original," Maleny finally said after a minute of silence. Abigail inwardly sighed with relief. Maleny continued on slowly, reciting the words that had been embedded into her mind by Abigail and Nicolas Mikaelson six years ago. "I was turned a thousand years ago by Niklaus Mikaelson and….I'm a vampire gifted with a witch's abilities because...because nature compensated me for a curse."

"Do we remember that curse?" Abigail still watched her daughter for any sign of a possible regain of memories.

"Esther Mikaelson stole my magic," Maleny said with no hesitation. Abigail always assumed it was due to the fact this was one of the only things that was actually true in Maleny's life. "She stole my magic to create the first vampires and then tried to continue using my magic for her own benefit . So when Niklaus turned me I got my powers back. Nature punished Esther and rewarded me."

"See?" Abigail came over to her daughter, patting Maleny's back. "It's not the best backstory but it is yours. I'm only sorry I wasn't there to protect you myself against Esther." She ran a hand down Maleny's hair and cursed Esther with all she had. She would never forgive the fact Esther stole her daughter's magic when she'd been meant to protect Maleny after Abigail's passing.

"Do you want to go take a walk like we always do?" Abigail nodded out the open window towards the beach. "I know today's your birthday so we can take a walk and get anything you want along the way."

"Yes," Maleny smiled at the idea. "Let me just change and I'll meet you in the lobby."

Abigail was glad Maleny let the dreams go. The less Maleny thought about them, the easier it was to keep her true life buried away. She gave her daughter a hug. "I know a thousand years must mean a birthday isn't so special but for a mother who's missed all of them... they'll always be special."

Maleny chuckled. "Thank you mother."

Abigail left the room afterwards to give Maleny a chance to change. Maleny headed for her bedside and picked up her cellphone. She had a few missed calls from her friends, no doubt wanting to wish her a Happy birthday. Things like that slipped her mind whenever she got into her spells.

Just as she was about to dial back Freya Mikaelson, there was a knock on her door. "Mother, I said I would be down soon," Maleny called as she walked up to the door. She opened it up to find one of the hotel's workers with a beautiful gift in hands.

"Miss Rowan, this just arrived for you," the man informed and held the gift for her to take.

"I could have taken it on my way down, Roger," Maleny chuckled but took the gift nonetheless.

"The caller said it was important for you to receive it in hand," Roger said.

"Caller?" Maleny wondered who the hell would go through so much trouble for a gift enough to be on the phone about it. Who's it from?" she checked the gift but saw no name tag.

"I'm sorry, he wouldn't give his name," Roger gave a shrug and excused himself.

"Hm," Maleny closed the door and walked back to her bed. She sat down and unwrapped the present to find a smaller fancy black box. This time there was one simple white card over it. She picked it up and saw its short message.

_For your pretty blonde hair._

Maleny caught herself smiling after a minute and quickly returned to the fact this was a gift from a stranger. "A stranger who seems to know when my birthday is...every year…" she mumbled to herself as she went for the box. She pulled the lid and gasped at the sight of a beautiful hair pin made of baby blue gemstones with pink, twinkling roses adorning the top over the pins. "Oh, wow…" she grazed her fingers over it and couldn't help her growing smile, borderlining laughter, as she wondered just how it would look on her.

Well, she wouldn't wait.

~0~

Now dressed in a typical beach's attire - a white and pink dress - Maleny met her mother in the hotel lobby and from there proceeded to the beach. They were lucky their hotel was right in front of the beach. All they had to do was just walk out their back hallway to let their feet touch the warm sand.

"That's a nice adornment," Abigail soon noticed the hair comb at the top of Maleny's tucked in ponytail. "I don't recall you buying it. Early birthday present?"

"Yeah," Maleny's hand went up her head to brush fingers over the comb. "I got it this morning after you left. Isn't it beautiful?"

Abigail agreed that it really was. "Who would have such a taste? Marlenie?"

"Don't know. The card never said a name. But I think we both know Marlenie Mikaelson would never buy me anything for my birthday. She hates me," Maleny gave a shake of her head and missed Abigail's disappointment.

For Maleny, Marlenie was one of the Mikaelsons who never spoke to her. Maleny thought there was some tension between them and so she preferred to keep her distance too. If only Maleny knew the estranged woman was actually her daughter...

But that's what happens when you've had your memories wiped, right?

"The card just said for my pretty blonde hair," Maleny gave a shrug of her shoulders and stopped walking by a pineapple stand. Her eyes dazzled with the fruits, especially the berries. She _loved_ berries!

Abigail, however, had frozen after Maleny disclosed the card's small message. She knew _exactly_ who sent her the present then. _He cannot do this_, she thought.

~0~

A young, fourteen year old Hope Mikaelson huffed as she walked down the hallway of her boarding school. She didn't, however, have the decency to actually look upset when she took a seat outside the office door where another student already was at.

"Sorry I got you in trouble," the boy, Henry, apologized in a meek voice.

Hope rolled her eyes and shifted on the bench to face him. "I said 'be discreet-'" she sharpness in her voice made Henry wince. "What part of jumping out of a tower is discreet?"

"I...had to make sure it would work," Henry explained. "If I only hurt myself, then I would've just healed."

Hope's snort was loud enough to hear in the next hallway. "Right. 'Cause no one's ever died peacefully from sleeping pills."

"I'm not a person things go right for. You ever seen a werewolf with no pecs who quotes E. E. Cummings? I can already tell I'm getting stronger. You know how good it will be not to have to take crap from anybody?"

Perhaps it was Hope's anger that made her say it but it was the truth in the end, in her thoughts. "What-what makes you think that? You're a hybrid now. You may be able to defend yourself, but they'll only hate you for being different. I don't think that you thought this through, Henry."

Whether it true or not, Henry didn't want to listen. "You would not understand."

Hope raised an eyebrow, almost offended by the accusation. "Oh, really? _Me_? I wouldn't understand?"

Henry realized his mistake and spoke in a hushed tone then. "That's different. None of the students know you're Klaus Mikaelson's daughter."

Hope shook her head, speaking in the same hushed manner as Henry. "I don't know why Lisina told you. You and I aren't even friends."

"Your mom's our alpha. All the Crescent Wolves know."

"And so will everyone at school when they start asking how you survived a swan dive out of the memorial library."

"...your dad's not gonna kill me for getting you suspended, is he?" Henry gulped at that idea.

"Don't worry," Hope began in a sarcastically sweet tone, "For that he'd have to actually _be_ around."

The two stopped talking when the office door opened up. Hope wasn't surprised to find her older step brother, Nicolas Mikaelson, walking out with Alaric Saltzman.

"Believe me, she'll be spending all her time in her _room_…" Nicolas was saying, throwing his sister a sharp glance.

As Alaric gestured Henry to come into the office, Nicolas pointed Hope to start walking. Hope knew the silent treatment with Nicolas would be nothing compared to what her mother would do once she was around. Nicolas opened up the door to Hope's dorm and pointed Hope to go inside. As soon as he closed the door, Hope went for business.

"...how mad are you?"

Nicolas Mikaelson was the only third generation Mikaelson to express his fury in a scarier manner than their father. It was a combination of both his parents' fury: Klaus and Maleny. Nicolas' fury was the silent, deadly anger that, once released, could burn villages down. It was a far cry to Hope's second older step sibling's way of expressing anger. Marlenie Mikaelson was a carbon copy of their father. Where Klaus would scream and tear people's limbs off, Marlenie would too.

Hope had yet to discover her own temperament, but she had the lovely opportunity to see the two pathways her siblings had taken as examples.

Nicolas pinched the bridge of his nose for a second, eyes closed, and took a deep breath before he could speak. "Why? Just..._why_ would you, Hope?" his voice was a quiet one, and just by his stance Hope knew she was only getting a small portion of his anger. "What the _hell_ were you thinking of -" he dropped his hands to his sides, "-because it was completely irresponsible of you. Outright offense, actually, since I do happen to work here!" The upside of having your brother work at your school as one of the teachers ran out for Hope when she turned thirteen.

Hope rolled her eyes but that was a huge mistake.

"Do you seriously _not_ see what you did? Hope, I know you're a smart enough girl to know the consequences of this. And because I do know, help me understand the one thing I'm lost on."

Hope crossed her arms, head raised up.

"_Why_?" Nicolas once again asked. "Why'd you do it? It wasn't for money, it wasn't for anything material, so...what for?"

"It's my business."

Nicolas waited for Hope to further explain but she never did. "That's it? That's all your giving me?"

Hope uncrossed her arms and looked around the room, spotting her phone. "...I want to call aunt Mal and wish her happy birthday."

Nicolas laughed at her attempt of changing topics. "Oh first you're going to talk to your mother. Get packing," his smile faded as he pointed to her drawers. "We leave in thirty minutes. Count yourself lucky if Hayley decides to give you the phone to even say hello to my mum."

Hope, despite her cool facade she was trying to stick to, couldn't help gulp at the idea of seeing her mother after being suspended for purposely creating a hybrid.

~ 0 ~

"Oh, lovely, thank you. _Gracias_," Maleny paid a man then beamed at her hand drawn moon tattoo on her left wrist. It was a full moon colored in silver with specks of white. She didn't know why she got it - she usually had temporary tattoos done all the time but never of a moon.

She'd made herself comfortable on the beach sand and held her left arm out to let the sun dry up her tattoo. Her mother had gone off for a swim and while Maleny promised to go in later, for now, she relished in the bliss the beach offered. It was one of the many reasons she decided to live there, after all.

"Maleny?"

But of course having other family around always reminded Maleny there could be more than just a blissful beach. Maleny got up the moment she saw Freya Mikaelson and Hayley Marshall at a distance. Astral projection was one of Freya's most common tricks after the Hollow incident.

"Oh, you're here!" Maleny rushed towards them, giving them both tight hugs.

"Happy birthday!" each woman exclaimed.

"I won't bother to ask how old you are because I'm sure _you_ don't even know," Hayley couldn't help make the joke afterwards.

Maleny laughed with them. She loved when they visited her. As much as she loved living with her mother, she did miss having their other family around. Hayley, Freya and Cami were all young (looking) and knew more of how to have fun in terms of parties. God, she missed them so much. Astral projection only allowed for so little.

"We bought you a gift," Freya was jittery as she held a present box in her hands. "Had to use a little extra magic to get this through, but it was worth it."

"So I can cross you guys out for this one, hm," Maleny pointed to the hair comb holding her hair up. As the two women eyed the jewel suspiciously, Maleny opened up the present to find a…she laughed. "New Orleans berry pie!"

The three cracked up together. If there was one thing Maleny missed from the Quarter it was their delicious berry pie that only one specific bakery made.

"We thought you might enjoy it more than some clothes," Hayley made a wave with her hand.

"Oh, definitely!" Maleny carefully closed the pie box. "Thank you both so much. Can I expect an actual visit from you ladies anytime soon?"

"I don't know," Hayley sighed. "I got a call from Hope's school saying she's been suspended so...no visit from me for now."

"Oh my God, what happened?" Maleny quickly asked, forgetting her ideas of visits for the moment.

"Teenager stuff," Hayley left it at that because she didn't want Maleny to get worried over things that didn't encumber her. "But it's so not the conversation meant for a birthday." Maleny was sure she could get the full story at another time. "So, show us around or something. Is this still the same beach as usual?"

"Guayabitos," Maleny made a gesture with her hand at the ocean. "The best place in the world I would say. Well, I've yet to see Venice, but...this comes as a first for the moment."

"And your mother?" asked Freya.

"In the ocean," Maleny nodded towards the water. "She loves her swim before lunch."

"And you don't…?"

"Tattoo's drying up," Maleny showed off her newest tattoo, leaving the two women blank for a second.

"That's...is that a moon?" Hayley recognized the picture all too soon. "Was that for me, or…?" she exchanged a knowing glance with Freya.

"I'm not sure, honestly," Maleny murmured as she gazed at her tattoo. "Sometimes I end up doing things I have no idea what for. Today was just a moon tattoo. Don't worry though, it's one of the temporary ones."

"Hayley, Freya," they all heard Abigail's greeting from behind. The woman had come out of the ocean without being noticed and was now wrapped in a towel. "I imagine this is a birthday visit?"

"Of course it is," Hayley said, and of course then Maleny had to show off the present they'd given her.

"It's berry pie from the Quarter," Maleny gushed.

"You love that dessert," Abigail chuckled. "Why don't you go put that in your room because the heat here will make it go bad."

"Oh, you're right," Maleny made a face. "I'll be back in a bit," and she disappeared.

As soon as Maleny was gone, Abigail got to business. "We need to talk."

"What about?" Freya asked, rather taken aback by the sudden change in Abigail's demeanor.

"About Niklaus. I'm sure he's the one who gave my daughter the hair comb that she now won't let go of," Abigail shook her head. The two women then remembered the hair comb Maleny mentioned earlier. "I _know_ it is tough but he cannot keep doing this. Every year it's a new present and sometimes he gets the ideas to send things for other holidays like Christmas and...whatever Valentine's Day is."

"Look, as long as Klaus stays away from Mal...it doesn't matter how many gifts he sends her," Hayley tried to be reasonable for both parties.

"My brother has followed the rules to the last point," Freya added for his defense. "He doesn't even call Mal. He doesn't even call Hope nor Nicolas."

"Then why does he keep drawing attention to himself by going on those French murder rampages?" Abigail was sure the two women visited that internet Maleny always used. Everyone in the supernatural community knew about Klaus' little trips in the night that included blood and pulling out hearts.

Maleny was one of them.

"Because that's what happens when he's alone," Hayley sighed. She was utterly grateful that Klaus had kept his distance from Hope but was also aware of the effects it had on him. Elijah had gotten rid of his memories and Marlenie herself refused to see nor speak with anyone these days. Klaus was left on his own. His worst nightmare come true.

"The idea was that Marlenie would stay with him, but...we all know how that turned out," Freya said, causing a momentary silence to fall on all three of them.

Marlenie was the only daughter who could see both her parents at any time. It was why Marlenie was the one to give Klaus the letter Maleny wrote for him. The idea was that Marlenie would remain with her father until they could figure out a way to bring the family together again. But three years in, something happened. Marlenie moved back to England to take the reigns of her designing company and never once directed a word with any of the family again.

"Maleny is in a constant spell of bliss and I can't have her asking too many questions," Abigail argued for her daughter's safety. In her mind, that was her top priority that she would make everyone understand, including Klaus himself. "The Hollow still resides in your family and it will always want to grab my daughter. I won't let that happen so either you talk to Klaus or I will."

When Maleny returned, all three women didn't have a trace of the sour conversation they'd had behind Maleny's back. "All set," the blonde was cheery as usual.

"You three go have some fun," Abigail motioned. "I'm going to go shower and maybe rest for a while."

"We're still on for dinner and the streets tonight, right?" Maleny stopped her mother for a second. It was their tradition after all and she didn't wanna skip it for any reason.

"Of course we are," Abigail promised then went on her way towards the hotel.

"Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to know if Cami's going to join anytime soon?" Maleny asked once they were alone. She couldn't dream of a birthday without Cami.

"Sorry, last time we spoke she was in France with a heavy patient," Freya couldn't necessarily say she was lying because that wasn't technically a lie.

~ 0 ~

Camille O'Connell had returned to her therapy practice in a quaint town of Manosque. She saw various clients at a day but the heaviest client was the only client who didn't even _know_ he was a client.

Cami walked into the small restaurant where her boyfriend played the finest of tunes over a piano. After a long day at her own work, it was nice to come by at night to listen to the peaceful tunes.

"Elijah is by far one of the best pianists," a dark-haired woman spoke in a light accent.

Cami smiled at the comment and glanced at the owner of the restaurant. "Makes you a smart woman for hiring him, Antoinette."

The woman smiled to herself. One could say she was proud alright for scoring an Original.

Just as Cami was about to go for a drink, she felt a presence that was...most definitely not supposed to be in the establishment. "Dammit," she murmured once she spotted the brothers up ahead conversing.

"Something the matter?" Antoinette heard her perfectly and wondered what changed Cami's demeanor so quickly.

Cami knew better than to out the two most powerful vampires in the room, especially when everyone knew Elijah no longer had his memories. "Nothing, I just forgot to call my cousin. It's her birthday and I promised I'd give her a call. Scuse me," she exited the restaurant and decided to go ahead and live up to her lie.

She was sure Klaus would know better than to stay more than they he actually could. She hoped perhaps with this impromptu visit, he would finally quench that ridiculous murder spree he'd been going on lately.

"Cami?" Maleny's face appeared on Cami's screen.

Cami immediately smiled. If there was one thing that made it easy to talk to Maleny when she didn't have her memories was that their conversations were always..._normal_. There were no enemies to be discussed, strategies for fights. It was all simple women talk.

"Happy birthday, Mal," Cami smiled. "I'm sorry it took long to call."

"Don't worry," Maleny began to look around the screen. "Is Elijah around?"

"He's on his shift. Won't get out until late tonight," Cami, by this point, was very good at making excuses for Elijah's lack of contact with the family.

Everyone but Maleny knew that Elijah too had his memories erased. He knew of Maleny - the almost adopted Mikaelson - but he didn't really talk to her. Everyone figured it was better this way.

"I think I can hear some of his music," Maleny bobbed her head to the distant tunes she could hear.

"My birthday present is on its way, by the way," Cami informed the woman. "And no you can't know what it is until you open it." Maleny chuckled. So she wouldn't try that this year. Cami's own laugh subsided the moment she felt she wasn't alone anymore. "Mal, I'm gonna have to cut this short, okay? The owner wants me to pick up a bartending shift tonight too…"

"Aw, the brave bartender continues on," Maleny joked but laughed again.

"Happy birthday, Maleny," Cami wished again then hung up. As soon as the call was done, she turned to her unexpected visitor. "You should know better than to sneak up on a call."

"Never did learn my manners," Klaus flashed a smirk at her.

"Yeah, you did, actually," Cami crossed her arms. "Your family and Maleny taught them to you. You remember that, don't you? Or have you forgotten that in all your outrageous murders?"

Any playfulness was gone in Klaus. Seeing Elijah already put a damper in his mood, now listening to Maleny's voice only worsened things. "...how is she?" his voice was suddenly quiet.

"Happy as usual," Cami shrugged. "But I did get an unusual call from Abigail earlier. Want to know what it was about?"

"I should go. Your plants inside might need some replacements," Klaus started to leave but Cami called out to him.

"I don't know what you think you're accomplishing with these murders but you can't continue them!"

Klaus stopped only to glance over his shoulder. "I do as I please, Camille. Do not forget that."

"Klaus, you can't keep-" but Cami was interrupted by the force of wind Klaus left in his trail. She sighed with annoyance at his departure. She clearly wasn't the indicated one to talk to him - ironic since she used to be his therapist - but she knew he couldn't keep this up. Someone needed to stop him and it unfortunately couldn't be Maleny nor Elijah.

"Fine," she turned her phone on again and dialed for the only other person that potentially could.

~0~

Maleny was preparing an evening outfit over her bed when two new visitors literally popped into her suite. She smiled at the visitors and left her clothing to greet each of them.

"I was wondering when you two were going to pop in for a quick visit," she hugged Hope first then moved onto Nicolas.

Nicolas' sad smile - as well as Hope's sad smile - was hidden from her mother as they hugged. It was always the same each time they visited Maleny, not that she would ever know.

"Happy birthday M-Maleny," he said. He inwardly berated himself for always going through the same emotions in the beginning. It was hard having to live with the fact his mother would never remember he was her son, and not just some miracle child belonging to Klaus Mikaelson - but Nicolas pushed through each day with the hope that one day things would get better.

"Happy birthday, aunt Mal," Hope held out a present for Maleny. She tried to act like the situation didn't bother her, for Nicolas' sake. She knew how difficult it was for Nicolas (and felt incredibly guilty for it) so she always tried to be the cheery one in these cases...even when she was about to get into the biggest trouble in a couple of hours.

"You shouldn't have," Maleny gushed after opening the present and finding a small painting inside. It was of herself at her new favorite place - the beach. "You two are so talented. You must get it from your father, right?"

"Yeah," Nicolas cleared his throat, unable to help glancing at his sister. Out of the two, Hope took not seeing nor speaking to Klaus the worst. Nicolas thought it was because Hope was younger but in reality Hope harbored an unhealthy load of guilt on her shoulders.

"It's beautiful, thank you," Maleny gave them both another hug. "This family showers me with gifts all the time, I swear. You know your aunt Rebekah sent me such a beautiful and expensive dress earlier?"

"That sounds like aunt Bex," Hope managed to smile at that. It'd been long since she spoke to Rebekah as well.

"And Kol and Davina sent me a new grimoire," Maleny's eyes dazzled with the reminder she had a new book to go over and learn from. "Cami said her present was coming in later but...you guys are the best."

It went unsaid that Maleny thought Klaus hadn't yet again sent her anything. She didn't expect anything anymore; in her mind he just wasn't close to her. That mere thought hurt Klaus, Nicolas and even Marlenie more than Maleny would ever think.

"We're glad you're having a good birthday, aunt Mal," Hope said. At least someone was being normal in this family.

"I am too. Now Hope and I have to go, we've got a long car ride to the Quarter ahead of us," Nicolas sharply glanced at Hope, reminding her that although this seemed like a fun moment her punishment was coming. Hayley Marshall did not play.

"Right, I heard about your little incident," Maleny crossed her arms at Hope after putting down the present on the bed. "Your mother visited me earlier. Did you really create a hybrid?"

Hope played with her fingers. "Maybe…"

"Hope, what on earth would make you think this was okay?"

"That's what I'm gonna try to figure out on the car ride," Nicolas threw Hope a warning look of how their trip would be looking like.

"Take from an unpopular hybrid, it's not a lot of fun being an outcast," Maleny said with all honesty. Being the world's only true witch-vampire (and not a siphoner) made her both a target and a force to be reckoned with. "I would think that being the world's only tribrid who's had to change her name to fit in would know this."

Hope did. By God she did. So maybe she hadn't thought this through…

~0~

Somewhere in France, Klaus had found the newest site for his murders. Now in his defense, he'd gone in for one specific target but...things got out of his hands. He always had this problem.

He walked over his recent corpse and crossed the grand living room of the unfortunate mansion. "Bonjour, Monsieur Gatineaux," he grabbed the man by the collars, taking pleasure in the fear etched on the man's face. "I should let you live to tell of this, but I seem to be on a bit of a roll." Just as he was about to pull the man's heart, a stake was thrown and threw the man across the living room. The cause of death was the stake embedded in his heart.

Klaus raised an eyebrow at his would-be victim. He stiffened at the new presence inside the room but eventually turned around.

A tall, raven-haired woman with blue eyes twirled another makeshift stake between her fingers. "Hi, Dad," Marlenie Mikaelson stood by the entrance, unfazed by her father's murder spree. In fact, she only wore a smirk on her face.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

So here's the last story of our dear Maleny Rowan. And it's a doozy! This will be the last story for Maleny so it's actually bittersweet writing it. Even making the story's title image was hard cos I wanted her to look different from the previous stories. She's no longer that innocent, soft woman. You'll see that as the story progresses!

**P. S:** I have created a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where I thought anyone might want to comment about a story or even just talk! I'll probably drop some aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	2. Just Enough

Marlenie's red heels clicked against the mansion's living room as she walked across, observing the crime scene as if it were just another day shopping. Her father had done quite a number with the victims, but nothing that would traumatize her - as _if_.

Klaus, on the other hand, could only watch _her_. It'd been four years since he last saw or talked to his eldest daughter. Eventually, he found his voice to ask her, "What are you doing here, Marlenie?"

Marlenie's long, straight black hair flipped over shoulders when she turned around. "Cami called. And you know how annoyingly convincing she is when she makes her case."

"I've had...experiences," Klaus smirked when he saw that bit of himself in her.

"You're out of control, Dad. And that's coming from _me_," Marlenie pointed towards the corpses on the floor. "We've all heard the rumors Klaus Mikaelson finally went crazy. You know Hope does too, right? And my mother?" Mentions like those erased Klaus' smirk. It wasn't easy for Marlenie either.

"How would you know? As Nicolas said in one of his letters: you have not spoken to anyone in the family," Klaus' face was an indicator that she was no one to talk to him about this, not when they both did the same thing.

Marlenie raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, and I bet _you_ wrote back?" her mocking voice got her a step closer to being snapped. Klaus' silence was all the answer she needed. Like her, he had dropped the family like a coffin in the ocean. "We are too much alike, Dad."

"Perhaps spending time with your mother might help combat that unfortunate trait," Klaus' suggestion was followed by a quiet remark, "Since it was apparently too difficult to spend time with _me_."

Marlenie frowned. "I couldn't. I thought that was clear when-"

"-you shouted it at me?" Klaus finished for her with the straightest face. One could never tell how much that incident had hurt.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Marlenie passed a hand down her raven hair. "I thought I was stronger but not when it comes to our family. I couldn't stand the situation then and I certainly can't stand it now. I spent my whole life looking for you, for my family, and some evil spirit just tore it away from me. I can't stand knowing that you can never see my brother, my sister, my _mother_...and that they can never see you. Mum can't even remember who we are and do you _know_ how hard it was to be around Mum without being able to be her daughter?"

Marlenie _tried_. She did. She tried spending time with Maleny after getting her memories erased but...Marlenie struggled. A Maleny without her memories was a fragile Maleny and Marlenie had no idea how to be with her. Her mother was a strong, level-headed woman but the memory wipe left Maleny completely...unaware. And being with her father proved to be less hurtful but just as difficult. From a mile away, Marlenie saw that her father was growing unhappier with each day.

With things that _broken_, Marlenie decided it was better to take herself out of the situation altogether. She was just sorry she accidentally hurt her father more than she thought it would.

"The world couldn't handle the two of us getting angry," she said quietly. Her eyes lowered slowly to the blood-stained floor.

Klaus had always known that it wasn't her intention. He opened his arms and not a minute later did Marlenie rush into them. He relished in familial contact, his _daughter_ was with him again. "I love you Marlenie, but if we cause you this much pain then you _should_ stay away." He couldn't put that kind of pain on her by keeping her with him. He was used to being alone now.

"This is a visit, Dad," Marlenie did clarify her length of stay in France. "Because what I said was true. You're out of control and…" she stepped away from him, arms open to her sides, "...it needs to stop."

Now Klaus expressed genuine amusement. "Oh, really? And just who do you think you are to tell me what to do? Last time I checked, _I_ was the father in this relationship."

Marlenie rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm the only one in our family who can actually see you so...I'm doing this for that reason."

"You wound me," Klaus feigned pain, even putting a hand on his heart.

"Dad, c'mon," Marlenie's serious voice eradicated his playfulness. "I've heard rumors and...they're kinda scary, even for me."

"And you came to ask me why I've suddenly gone...crazy?"

Marlenie knew better than that. She hoped _he_ knew that. "I'm your daughter, Dad. Half my mind - if not a good 80% of it -" Klaus smirked, "-thinks likes yours. Make yourself look and sound crazy enough so that Hope, Nicolas and my mother would never even consider talking to you ever again." Klaus pointed at her, silently warning her to watch what she said. "Dad, it's just us," Marlenie's voice was quiet now, retaining all that seriousness. She'd thought about his actions all the way to France and this was the only logical reason from Klaus' perspective.

"You think you're so smart, don't you?" his smirk elicited hers.

"A smart alec, last time I heard."

Klaus began to walk around, careful not to step on the corpses on the floor. "Well, since you're keen on an answer, I might as well indulge you. It's my experience that those who are wronged seek revenge. And since many have long memories, I am determined to systematically annihilate each and every one of our enemies. And the heirs of our enemies. I will not make the same mistake I did with the Dawsons." Everytime he thought about the wicked witches who hunted Maleny for a thousand years, his blood boiled with a new sense of rage despite them all being good and dead.

"In _France_," Marlenie crossed his arms and gave her father a knowing look. "You know Cami is going to kick your ass for not believing she could protect uncle Elijah in his state."

"Camille is far too invested in her new quaint town lifestyle," Klaus waved her off. "I am merely getting rid of nuisances."

"And in the process making sure none of those who cannot see you don't actually _want_ to see you," Marlenie shook her head.

Klaus' face said it all. Of course it was something more than a simple pastime. It was a strategic move, a constant move, that guaranteed the safety of his children and Maleny.

Marlenie deeply sighed and, despite knowing it would just make things harder when she left again, she asked, "Can you buy me a coffee, Dad?"

For a moment, Klaus wondered if he'd heard right. The last time she and him had coffee was four years ago. He wouldn't even think about wasting this opportunity. Being alone was a punishment even he couldn't fathom despite the time.

~ 0 ~

Hope had been sitting down on the courtyard couch watching her mother and brother converse across her. It seemed like it'd been hours since they'd gotten to the Quarter and in all that time Hayley hadn't directed a word to Hope. Hope knew she was in trouble - huge trouble - so the anxiety she felt towards the looming lecture was just too much for her.

"Can you just yell at me already?" she got up from the couch and watched as Hayley turned to her. "Nicolas already pried all the information he could get and that was-"

"-careful with your words, little sister," Nicolas playfully warned her.

Hayley was not in a place to be playful nor amusing. She pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled so as to not actually scream. "The whole point of sending you to that school and calling you Hope _Marshall_ was so that you wouldn't draw attention to yourself, to keep you safe."

"Yeah, and pretending not to be your brother was trouble enough," Nicolas added.

"That didn't seem to bother you when you went snooping around whenever someone spoke to me," Hope had a response for that, not that it helped her case.

"You really wanna go down that road right now?"

Hope looked away. "No…"

"Why'd you do it, Hope?" Hayley honestly couldn't figure it out, and talking with Nicolas didn't help. "What could you have possibly needed the money for?"

Hope seemed ready to speak but she pushed it back. Only a mutter came out instead. "That's my business."

"And selling your blood is mine. You had no right-"

"-you're being a hypocrite. You're the one that taught me "my body, my choice. Well, my blood, my choice."

"You are not just anybody, Hope. Do you even understand what you have done?" Hayley thought it the worst that her daughter didn't even recognize what she'd done to that poor boy. "Henry was already a kid who was struggling to fit in, and now... he's gonna be only one of three werewolf hybrids in the world, and seen as a threat to everyone in the city. You have no idea what you've done." Hope bit her lower lip after the implications began to dawn on her. "You cannot create something without taking responsibility for it. Nicolas, watch her."

"What are you going to do?" Nicolas asked, concerned, when Hayley started heading out of the compound.

"I'm gonna have to clean up the mess Hope made before it gets worse," Hayley sent a scolding, disappointed, glance Hope's way before walking out.

Hope's gaze slowly fell to the floor as her mother disappeared from sight. The rush of guilt began to settle over her shoulders, only making her feel worse. It really hadn't been her intention to create such a mess. She'd only wanted to see her father...her sister even…

But this couldn't end like this. She messed up once, maybe she could fix it with a bigger idea. One that was safer.

~0~

Maleny sat on her bed with the grimoire Kol and Davina gifted her for her birthday. She was skimming it for potential spells to practice with, and on the side she had that berry pie already half eaten. Her birthday dinner with her mother had been lovely as every year, and after a night out in the city, she returned with a desire to learn some new spells.

The hotel phone rang on her bed stand. She wondered who could be calling now since most of the family called her directly on her cellphone. Hello?"

"Maleny?" it was a man's voice on the other line, unsure of who he was getting by the sound of it.

"Yes, this is her, who's calling?"

"Your one and only, Julius Palemor," the flirty tone didn't sit well with Maleny.

"I don't...I don't know who this is but it's not funny," Maleny frowned.

"You don't get to play with me like that, Maleny. I've finally found you again and I wanna talk."

"And just who the hell do you think you are?" Maleny really wished she knew the answer to that.

The man laughed. "Seriously? We're going to play that game?"

"I don't know who you are-"

"Yeah, but I've found you and I'm not letting you go. Meet me down at the beach in an hour or I will come and get you myself," and Julius gave no time for Maleny to refuse. He hung up on her like that.

Maleny was dumbfounded. She had no recollection of this man and no idea what he could possibly want from her. But she supposed she didn't really have a choice at the moment. The last thing she wanted was for some strange man to go hunting down the hotel for her and cause havoc.

~0~

Marlenie watched after the waiter who'd just left her coffee on the table. Klaus could only contain himself for so long.

"I suppose he's on my list now," he declared with a smirk starting at the corner of his lips.

Marlenie's eyes fell on her father with a matching smirk. "Dad, I'm a little old for you to not let me date."

"Not in my book."

Marlenie playfully rolled her eyes. "Thank you for the coffee." She picked it up and took a small sip from it since it was still pretty warm.

Klaus gaze turned soft as he watched her. "It'd been a pretty long time since we had a moment like this."

Marlenie knew what he meant by that. Four years ago they always had coffee in the afternoon despite her being the only one interested in it. He just tried to appease his only daughter with him. "With the letters Nick keeps sending me, I know you haven't called him nor Hope. What happened?"

Klaus toyed with the napkin dispenser in silence. Of course something happened. He could never just abandon his children without a reason. But he knew if he told Marlenie the specific reason he stopped all contact with Hope, she would blame herself. And if he told Nicolas about it, he would feel the same.

Marlenie's sudden departure from him hit him harder than expected. Being on his own, completely, turned him into his worst nightmare. And it only got worse. Someone had the bright idea to teach Hope astral projection, which, in reality, was a useful gift when used correctly...and when the _timing_ was right. But Hope had used it during the worst possible moment and caught him in one of his murder sprees. He would never be able to get rid of little Hope's face when she first saw him.

"Letters and phone calls were not enough for your sister," he went with the simplest truth, which in all fairness was a truth. "I had to distant myself before she attempted something she shouldn't."

"Yeah, when she was _eleven_. Now she's fourteen and understands the situation."

"At fourteen, what did you most want?" Marlenie remained quiet for a minute. She didn't need to answer for Klaus to know. "You wanted your family," he said for her. "You wanted your father."

"Different times, though. Hope has the magic I didn't have and the technology I didn't have. One video chat would not kill you," Marlenie's snap didn't sit well with Klaus. "And Nicolas? I think he understands just fine what the do's and don'ts are of this."

"I don't talk to them for the same reason you don't talk with the family," Klaus' one line silenced her. "The limitations are difficult to deal with. To have them close and yet so far away is something I never imagined would hurt. You, however, have the luxury of seeing them in person. Each and every one of them. You are bound by fear of reality and I am bound by rules."

"Maybe aunt Rebekah was right. This family _is_ cursed," Marlenie picked up her espresso for another drink. "I find it easier to stay away and forget the horrible circumstances we're in. It's my escape. Yours, I suppose, is murdering."

"It's a guarantee," Klaus clarified.

"And it works perfectly, right? You haven't spoken to my mother in how long?"

Klaus' eyes narrowed on that question. Marlenie could not help her smirk despite being on the same boat. "We are not discussing Maleny. Off limits."

"It's her birthday, in Mexico. I paired up with aunt Rebekah and sent her a beautiful beach dress. And you?" Marlenie continued to speak about the forgotten blonde.

"We are _not_-"

"Dad," Marlenie's face was pleading. She hardly spoke about her mother and Klaus happened to be the only person who could understand the effects of not seeing Maleny for years. "Did you buy her something?"

Klaus swayed his head, exhaling with regret. His mouth was about to begin talking when he knew damn well it wouldn't end good. It hardly did whenever he got to thinking about Maleny. Usually the drive to forget her pushed him into a new spree of victims. And yet…

"Your dear grandmother has already lectured me about the dangers of my anonymous gifts," he meant that in the most casual way possible but Marlenie knew better than to believe it.

"Yes, I've learned my grandmother can be a bit difficult," Marlenie crinkled her nose, though smiled at the idea of her grandmother. Abigail Rowan was a generous, kind woman nonetheless.

"I'm glad you never had to meet your grandfather," Klaus muttered then, after a moment's thought, added, "_Grandfathers_."

"What did you get her, though?" Marlenie continued to insist, leading Klaus to thinking this wasn't just an opportunity to speak about Maleny. Marlenie probably had been suppressing any and all thoughts about their family; they were in the same boat, after all.

He indulged his daughter.

"A hair comb I saw a couple weeks ago. Thought it might look nice on her," and despite not seeing her in person, Klaus was sure Maleny did. In his thoughts about her, he didn't right away notice Marlenie's smile fading the more she thought about Maleny. "Marls-" his quiet call for her startled her out of her thoughts, "Go see your mother. Go see your brother and your sister."

Marlenie pursed her lips and slowly leaned back on her chair. "I can't do that."

"Actually, you can. You are like me - we cannot be on our own for so long without some repercussions. You can lock yourself in your business, surround yourself with your co-workers and everything you want but your family is what makes you feel solitary. Go, Marlenie. You can be in Mexico by tomorrow." Klaus took a moment for himself, to remind himself that this would never be a possibility for himself. "Go and see your mother, have breakfast together, walk on the beach...take her to the streets for an afternoon...treat her to evenings at the beach for a picnic or…"

Marlenie was sure he was no longer talking about her and her mother. This sounded something he and Maleny would probably do if they were together. _Quit being so selfish, Marls_. Maybe she could make up the extra pain she'd caused her father in a way.

"Dad, I need you to come with me."

~ 0 ~

The beach at night could be a scary place, but for Maleny it tended to be moments of peace and bliss...more so than at dawn. She could watch the waves crash over one another under the moonlight for hours. It was also when there was less heat so that was a bonus.

"Maleny, you came," the same voice from the phone turned her away from the ocean.

She saw a man with shaggy brown curls and matching brown eyes walking towards her. Her left hand gripped her sandals she was holding. She had no idea who he was, but apparently he knew her.

The man, Julius, came to a stop in front of her. His curls fell over his forehead when he looked down at her. "I thought I'd never find you again. But I guess it wasn't that hard searching for the only true vampire-witch hybrid in the world."

Maleny eyed him with an obvious degree of suspicion. "What's that got to do with anything?" she asked despite knowing that her unique being was a special topic.

Julius laughed, throwing his head back for a moment. "Oh, I'm not doing that bit."

Maleny frowned with further confusion. "What do you want?"

"Is that how you're going to treat an old friend?" his attempt of touching her bare arm was met with a glare. She had pulled her arm away from his and took a full step back for good measure. "Alright, so maybe we didn't end on good terms but is that really how you're going to greet me?"

"I don't _know_ you, and I'm frankly not against the idea of just snapping your neck and returning to my room."

Julius raised an eyebrow at her, his playfulness gone. He snatched her arm again and gripped it to at least have her full attention for a moment. "Hey I'm here to _warn_ you about some delirious cult-"

"-let go of me!" Maleny exclaimed, not quite listening to what he had to say. She twisted his arm holding onto hers and attempted to rush off but he sped around her to block her way. "Oh…" she stumbled back a step and frowned.

"Now you're going to listen to me because I went through a hell of a trouble searching for you and _you_ were the one who put me up to this!" Julius practically snarled at her. At the same time, Maleny felt a sheer force push down over her head, making her cry out loud. Her hand dropped her sandals to grab her head. "Best we do it the easy way!"

~ 0 ~

"So you didn't come alone," Klaus looked at Marlenie's best friend, Evie, and their warlock friend, Xavier, with mild interest. He only had a genuine respect for Evie since she was the reason Marlenie survived Lucien Castle's venomous bite.

Marlenie closed the door to her apartment and popped the 'p' when she answered "Nope!". She walked past her father and took her two friends into the living room where Klaus came to the surprise of finding a sight prepared for a spell. "I don't travel alone, Dad."

"And we were very happy to accompany her," Evie side-hugged Marlenie.

"And I don't really have much of a choice," Xavier sarcastically added while he went up to a grimoire on a table.

"Shush and get that spell ready," Marlenie motioned with a hand.

"What exactly are we doing, Marlenie?" demanded Klaus, patience beginning to dwindle.

"It's Mum's birthday where she is," Marlenie walked back to him and took one of his hands. "I do this when I feel even more lonely than usual."

"Do what?" Klaus raised an eyebrow at her. Unfortunately, because Marlenie was mostly like him, he needed to be weary of her.

Marlenie's smile was a soft one. She just told her father to be a little patient with her and to close his eyes. Against his better judgement, Klaus followed the instructions. Xavier cast a spell that made both father and daughter feel like they were surrounded by a whirlwind. When it stopped, the sound of ocean waves came to Klaus' ears.

He opened his eyes and immediately saw the dark ocean with tumultous waves. The moonlight shined above, and…

"I swear to God you better not to do that again," someone was in the middle of threatening.

Klaus gripped Marlenie's hand still in his. He _had_ to be dreaming. This was a mirage, an illusion…

"Over there," Marlenie instructed him to look up ahead.

Klaus followed her gaze to see a familiar, petite blonde currently arguing it out with a man. In seven years, Maleny had remained the same except for a few hairstyle changes but...she remained beautiful.

"Xavier usually does an advanced astral projection spell for me once a month," Marlenie explained quietly. "Mum can't see us nor hear us. It's a one-way street, basically."

"Because if she can't hear nor see us…"

"It's easier to leave," Marlenie finished with an almost hushed tone. This was how she survived without seeing her family for years. A couple minutes of silent visits was enough to remind her that her mother was alive and well.

"She's beautiful," the words tumbled out before Klaus even realized what he said. Images of Maleny in his head weren't enough of her true form. He missed her, God he missed her so much. His temptation with her was far too much to even think about phone calls or video chats. He loved her; it was his strength to keep as far away from her as possible for her safety...but it was also his weakness of temptation.

"And...she's pissed," Marlenie noticed the way Maleny was glaring at the man with her.

"_You_ are a stranger and I am not going to listen to anything else you have to say to me! Good night!" Maleny shouted.

"How could you not trust me?" Julius' voice stopped her from walking off. She turned sideways, her face expressing nothing but confusion. "I know you weren't yourself when we met but I wouldn't try to hurt you. _You _told me to find you if you ever disappeared."

These obscure yet implying words made both Marlenie and Klaus glare at the man's back. Who the hell did he think he was anyways? And why would he know her that much?

"For the last time, I don't know you!" Maleny returned for her sandals on the sand but still kept a cold look on Julius. "Leave me alone!"

As she got up, he snatched her arm again and yanked her up to him. "You're an idiot if you don't believe me-"

Maleny whacked him on the head with her free hand, which just so happened to be the one holding her sandals. She watched him growl and stumble away from her. "Don't call me again," she said with a straight voice just before waving her right hand index finger and third finger to the side, snapping Julius' neck. A tiny smirk quirked at the corner of her lips.

"Alright, Mum!" Marlenie cheered as her mother turned away and headed back for her hotel.

Even Klaus found wide, proud smirk for Maleny. He loved Maleny's moments of feistiness (though honestly he would be proud of anything she did). But the connection suddenly vanished when Klaus' phone began to ring.

He and Marlenie were back in the apartment living room. Klaus pulled out his phone to see Hayley's ID on his screen. "Hello?"

"...Dad…?" Hope's voice was enough to make Klaus and Marlenie freeze in their spots. "M-Mom and Nicolas are missing. We can't find them - please...please help me!"

Klaus locked eyes with Marlenie. There was a drive to help Hope, and to find their missing family, but as much as Marlenie willed herself to silently agree...she just couldn't. It was a temptation she could not fall into.

"I'm on my way," Klaus ended up saying on his own, though he himself didn't know what this would lead to.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Ah dang it Hope! P.S I really love writing scenes between Klaus and Marlenie because, honestly, out of the three kids she's the one who's most like Klaus. And the fact they're _aware _of it is both funny and sad to me xD.

**P. S:** I have created a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where I thought anyone might want to comment about a story or even just talk! I'll probably drop some aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, drop a comment maybe; my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.

**For the review:** I knooooooow, each time I remember it's the last story of the series...I want to cry. Mal is my Originals baby forevermore. But I'm always open to doing AU's (I might have one in mind, i don't know shhh). Yeah the ending for the series wasn't exactly my favorite soooo it'll be different here. Hope you like the new chapter and thanks!


	3. My Little Secret

"Hope?" Freya stopped by Hope's bedroom just as the teen had put down her cellphone.

"Just called aunt Mal, see how she spent her birthday." Hope bit her lip nervously. "Have you and Vincent...found…?"

Freya was sad to say they hadn't found any trace of Hayley nor Nicolas. It was as if the ground had swallowed them up.

One moment, Hayley was trying to make amends with the Crescent wolves and the vampires while Nicolas worked on a way to calm the Quarter down...and the next moment they were both gone. All they had as evidence was Hayley's blood against some cracked bricks and her cellphone, but nothing of Nicolas'.

"Aunt Freya, we have to find them," Hope practically begged of her aunt.

Freya walked over and gave the girl a hug. "Vincent is already working with the witches to track both of them down. You just get some rest."

Hope agreed to get some sleep while Freya continued to do some of her own spells to find Nicolas and Hayley. A couple spells worked its way into hours of work, she almost didn't notice the new visitor the compound had.

"Sister," Klaus' voice pulled Freya out of her work. She turned around and felt somewhat relieved to see him around. She hurried to greet him with a tight hug. Klaus relished in some more familial contact. He missed his family, not that they would hear it out loud. "The years have been kind to you."

"Well, you know, just sunblock, the love of a good woman and literal witchcraft," Freya stepped back and offered a small smile. "Nick's done the same thing…"

At the mention of his disappeared son, Klaus swallowed hard. "Is there anything…?'

"No," Freya's answer was a meek one. She felt awful for not being able to do anything since her attempts had been, so far, futile. "I'm _trying_, but...it might be easier if we can get something of Nick's. I've already got Hope's blood but it bodes better for Hayley's."

"He's more tied to his witches' ancestry," Klaus knew that rendered his blood rather useless in this situation. "Particularly his mother's…"

Freya gave a nod of her head. "I was thinking of getting Abigail to get some of her own blood but...maybe Maleny's…"

"We can't risk her being here," Klaus immediately said. "Abigail's should be enough, after all it's where his and Maleny's magic originate from." Freya hoped he was right.

"You shouldn't stay here, Hope's asleep," she felt awful reminding him to be cautious like he hadn't been doing that for years. The Hollow inside him would urge to get power from Maleny the most, but a close second was Nicolas and Hope.

"I have no interest in infecting my daughter with this darkness. Once we've found her mother and brother, I'll crawl back to whence I came," Klaus reassured then cast a glance at the open window of the room. "Freya, this city reeks of blood like it hasn't since the War-"

Freya scoffed at his oblivion. "Yeah, well, you're to blame this time." Klaus frowned at the accusation. "Cami told me you spoke with Elijah and then hours later, it rained red. No story that begins with water turning into blood has ever ended in triumph."

"I need to leave or things are gonna get worse. Just tell me about Hayley and Nicolas," Klaus urged her to speak fast. Despite neither Hope nor Nicolas being in his vicinity he could feel the Hollow whispering in his head to get close to one of them.

"...tried every locator spell I know in every language I know and I…" Freya may was well have been speaking to a wall.

Klaus tried to finish but when he felt a particular familiar presence making a rush for the room, he had no option but to speed out of the place and leave Freya midword. However, the witch didn't have much problem understanding because a second later Hope came into the room, running to a stop a couple feet away from her. Seeing it was just her aunt in the room, Hope disappointedly looked around.

_So close_, she felt her chest compress with sorrow for herself.

~0~

The city of New Orleans was on the brink of another supernatural war. This was what Marcel found upon his return. The hybrid Hope created had already claimed one victim because of his inability to control himself. The victim, Poppy, was being given a traditional funeral but it didn't do much to quell the vampire's hunger for revenge.

"So, that's it, then?" one particular, louder vampire, with short curly hair and fire eyes walked over to Marcel and Josh. "A toast? A platitude? What about justice?"

"Excuse me?" Marcel eyed her with weariness. He didn't want an argument right after his arrival, much less with someone he didn't even know.

"It was a beautiful speech, your majesty-" the woman, Greta, spat, "-but Poppy wasn't prey to the city of New Orleans. She was gutted by a jacked-up half-breed who can't control his aggression."

"Hayley and the Crescents will handle Henry," Josh reminded her of the plan.

Greta almost snorted. "The Crescents are building their float and toasting to a prosperous year. They're _protecting_ him!" she shook her head and stormed away from them.

Josh just rolled his eyes. "Look, don't worry about her. She's been here for a couple of years now, but overall, she's a pretty upstanding citizen. We're all just a little on edge at the smell of blood."

Marcel still did not get a good vibe from her. "I don't like her tone. When there's one voice of dissent, there's usually more. What have you heard?"

Josh did not have energy to lie at this point. 'Yeah, all right. Uh, a few people are suggesting that you can't be the king of the vampires because... well, because you're not a vampire." Marcel tool quite an offence to that. "Hey, they have a point. I mean, that hybrid bite that could wipe the rest of us out, basically just a hickey to you."

Marcel had something to say about that but he felt someone just at the front door. "Excuse me a minute." He left a confused Josh to wait while he went outside to the street. "You can't be here. Crashing a funeral…"

Klaus raised his hands to show this time he was on a good path. "My favorite way to spend a Friday night. It's good to see you, Marcellus, after all this time. Sorry about Rebekah."

Now the last thing Marcel seriously wanted to talk about was how Rebekah left him at the altar. "I'm sure you are. It's good to see you, too. Why are you here?"

"Nicolas and Hayley are missing. It's been days," Klaus took a good look at the streets, though yhey were familiar they were now filled with strangers. Any one of them could have taken his son. "Don't worry, I'll stick to the shadows, but there's certain leads I can't follow."

"What do you need from me?" Marcel inquired.

~0~

As soon as Hope woke up that morning, she got the idea - a stark determination - to see her Dad and help fix things. There was no stopping her, not this time. She even went as far as leaving an old friend - maybe a crush, who knew - in her room after making him swear he wouldn't let her aunt Freya find him.

She trudged along the Quarter, going straight for the essence of magic she'd used for a locator spell. It led her into Rousseau's, just in time because the moment she walked in she heard in a loud bang from the kitchen. She knew exactly what was going to happen so she ran directly for the room, saving a poor human in the process.

"Seriously, Dad?" Hope forced her father to remain on the ground for a moment with a simple aneurysm.

Klaus had found Hayley's boyfriend, Declan, who as of now was the only lead he had on the disappearances.

"Compel him," Hope said just before releasing her magic from Klaus.

Klaus got up from the ground and grabbed Declan by the shoulder. "Looks like you need to go back to the butcher's immediately. You won't remember meeting me today."

Declan obediently went around him for the door. He only stopped when he saw Hope. ""Ah. Mornin', kid. Um... I'll be back. I forgot to stop by the Shank. But saved you a bread pudding in the fridge. Your favorite."

Hope gave him a smile then waited for him to leave the building. When they were alone, she waited for Klaus to say something but it appeared he was having some trouble. He'd turned his back on her, unbeknownst to her he was fighting off the whispers in his head... urging him to go to her.

The Hollow, if anything, was a nuisance.

"You're not even gonna look at me?" Hope's demand made him wince. "Mom's missing, Dad. So is my brother. I'm scared."

"I know, but we can't be too close," Klaus finally turned around and saw his daughter for the first time in seven years. She'd grown _so_ much. Unlike Nicolas and Marlenie, Hope was his only child to be a complete physical blend of her parents. The eyes were Hayley's, but around them was all him. The hair was Hayley's, but the fervor was his.

"The Hollow wants aunt Mal, not me, not Nicolas-"

"Were that true I wouldn't be hearing her voice in my mind to get to you," Klaus couldn't help snap. She was being completely wreckless in this crusade to see him.

"Let me help you find them," Hope begged. "You went to the wrong partner, Dad. Declan's a human, but the girl Nicolas knows is all witch-"

"Woman?" Klaus repeated, stunned of course.

Hope gave a slow nod of her head. "If you called you would've known Nick's been seeing someone for about a year now. He says it's nothing but-" she rolled her eyes, "-we all know it's a lie. She's a Quarter witch. Maybe she could help us, maybe I can take you to-"

"You are not going anywhere!" Klaus' sudden shout startled her. "If you don't do as I say, I'll have Freya bind you to the compound with a spell. I don't want it to come to that. Go home!"

Hope pursed her lips, anger seething between them. "Fine," she spat and started to leave but stopped under the threshold to give one warning, one she was particularly happy about, "But if I were you, I'd come home around noon. Something's coming."

Her smirk made Klaus dread for the worst. That...that was all him.

~0~

When Hope returned home, she was a little startled to find her friend, Roman, lingering in the upstairs living room. "Uh... you weren't in my room... I thought you left."

"Still here," Roman gave a wave of his hand.

"You weren't scared someone would catch you sniffing around?"

"Well, according to my school files, I have a rebellious nature and a callous disregard for authority. So... no."

Hope's smile didn't last long because now she knew that Roman discovered more about her than any of her friends had in seven years. "Just ask," she sighed. "Okay? I-I know you want to."

"This is like a house of horrors," Roman pretended to shiver, ultimately eliciting a smile from her. "Viking grimoires. A million weird knives. And did you know you have a dead redhead wrapped in a sheet in your parlor?"

"Yeah…" Hope hadn't orally heard the story of Aurora de Martel but she learned a good deal through journals left behind by Cami. "That's my dad's crazy ex and I guess my aunt Mal's mortal enemy. It's a sleeping spell…Just...no one really knows what to do with her."

Well that wasn't entirely true, she thought. Marlenie once advised they should throw Aurora's body into the ocean and let the fishes have a feast. She even overheard Maleny once saying they should bury Aurora six feet under the ground, and then some.

"Normal," Roman chuckled. "Hey. Look, I can keep a secret. I got plenty of my own. So, what are you?"

Hope sighed. She was tired already and it wasn't even noon. Why should she keep hiding who she was? Everyone would eventually know. "My name is... Hope Mikaelson. My grandmother practically invented dark magic. My mom is the Crescent alpha. And... my dad is... Niklaus Mikaelson."

Roman's eyes slowly widened, his finger coming to point up at her. "So that makes you…"

"The mythical tribrid freak show," Hope finished bitterly. She moved to the couch to take a seat and just_...breathe_. It felt good being able to tell someone who she really was. It made her lies of life feel just a little less.

"And so, your blood turns werewolves into... vampire hybrids," Roman said, and for her it seemed just like an obvious thing to realize after what he heard of her stories and Henry's fate.

"Yeah," Hope rubbed her face, dropping her hands to her lap afterwards.

"So then...your family…"

"Oh boy," Hope leaned back on the couch and sighed loudly. "Take your pick. My siblings? They're both miracles. My brother's mortal but he's a very powerful witch and he still has a chance of being a triggered hybrid. My sister might as well count as a triggered hybrid with how vicious she is. Plus, she already _has _a few hybrid perks thanks to their, uh, unique parentage and conception." Hope shivered and pushed away _all _thoughts about that last part.

"You have siblings?"

"My brother you know," Hope couldn't help smile when she told him. "Mr. Rowan?"

"Oh God," it was Roman's turn to bury his face in his hands. "I mouthed off to him so many times-"

"Yeah, I know," Hope patted his arm.

"But who's his mother? You're Marshall by your mother, but…"

"My aunt Mal," Hope smiled. "Maleny Rowan."

"She's the freak witch-vampire some ancient spirit created-"

"She's not a freak," Hope immediately clarified for him. "She's kind, she's so funny, and I happen to love her a lot, alright? She gave me my brother and my sister and she's fought for me and my family countless times. My family may be the darkest family in history, but they're _mine_," Hope said with a casual shrug of her shoulders. Broken and cursed, but mine, she thought.

Roman came to sit beside her and brushed some hair out of her face, smiling with her. "An unorthodox family is something I know pretty well," he promised.

And suddenly, Hope didn't feel so alone.

"HOPE!" they both heard Klaus' roar echo throughout the building.

Hope jumped from the couch, eyes wide with recognition at what was coming. "You have to go! He will literally wear your spine as a necklace! Leave!"

Roman didn't need to be told twice to know the truth behind her words. He was gone within the second.

Just as Klaus walked into the room, Freya came in behind. "What is going on!?" the eldest sister blinked fast with confusion.

"That's what I'd like to know!" Klaus kept furious eyes on his daughter who was having a hard time finding her courage. He'd gotten a call from Marcel and Josh with some interesting news discovered after apprehending Henry. "Please tell me it isn't true. What have you done with your mother and your brother?"

Freya was dumbfounded, but not stupid enough to believe Klaus would make something like that up. "Hope…"

"Yeah, fine, I did it," Hope raised her hands, showing she wasn't going to lie when everything was on the table. "I knew it would take something big to bring you all home."

Freya was the first to realize the key word in that admission. "_All?_"

Hope, however, was still processing how her plan actually resulted. "Gotta say I'm a little shocked it wasn't enough to pull Marlenie from whatever bubble she's living in. If your twin is missing, you come home!" she balled a fist and scrunched her face, rather irritated with her older sister.

"Hope," Klaus called again, now on the same page as Freya. "Tell me you _didn't_…"

Hope raised her head high. "I had to do something."

"Hope-"

"Hellooo?" the three heard the indistinct voice of a petite blonde downstairs.

"Oh no…" Freya dashed out of the room to the courtyard.

Klaus' hand did a series of movements between pointing at Hope and the open doors of the room. Hope gulped with actual fear of what kind of punishment she would get for this. It was worth it, but...it was still a bit scary.

Down below, Maleny cautiously walked further into the courtyard, eyes and ears keen on movements.

"Maleny?" she looked up to find Freya coming down the stairs, almost running actually. "What are you doing here!?"

"Well, Hope called and she said the family was in trouble," Maleny shrugged, eyes going above Freya to the second floor. "Hayley and Nicolas are missing - poor thing was sobbing begging me to come to the city. I couldn't say no."

As he heard from upstairs, Klaus was fixing a rather furious - never before seen by Hope - glare on his daughter.

"You shouldn't have," Freya came up to Maleny, first giving the woman a hug but then taking matters into her own hands. "You need to leave, right now-"

"-what?" frowned Maleny. "I am not going until I know where Hayley and Nicolas are. I just spoke to them yesterday, how can they be gone?"

"They're not really gone, but-"

Maleny's head snapped to the left, towards the second floor to be precise. "Someone else is here," she said, eyes narrowing with suspicion.

Freya's head went from Maleny to the balcony at least three times before she could muster up some words. "Mal, where's your mother? She wouldn't have let you come-"

"I know," Maleny said distractedly. She started heading for the staircase much to Freya's dismay. "It's why I lied to her and told her I was going on a walk into the city. I'm sure she's probably fuming right now trying to get a flight here."

"Mal, you can't go up there!"

"Why not?" Maleny stopped on the first step to look at Freya's overly scared face. "Who's up there, Freya?"

Freya's mouth opened and closed without ever saying a proper answer. Hope really did a number on them all with this game of hers.

"Freya?" Maleny's voice called the mortal witch back to the present. "What's going on?"

"Aunt Mal!" Hope burst from the second floor living room, at least cheerful that this part of the plan was working. The teenager came running down the balcony and down the staircase to hug Maleny.

Maleny laughed as she was forced to take the step down in order to hug back. "Hey, haven't seen you in person in a while."

"I know," Hope hugged the blonde tightly. "I missed you."

"Missed you too," Maleny could honestly say. While she loved her mother to bits and pieces, Maleny did miss the rest of the Mikaelsons. She always wondered why they preferred to be scattered around the world when there was a perfectly nice city in New Orleans.

"_Hope_," Freya's tone was hard and warning. Just because Maleny arrived did not mean Hope was in any less trouble.

Hope cleared her throat and stepped back from Maleny. "It's done, aunt Freya."

"What is?" Maleny repeated as she looked between the two witches. "Is anyone finally going to tell me what is going on? Freya, you still have ever to answer why I have to go."

Freya bit her lip nervously, wanting so badly for everything to just stop a moment to figure things out. Maleny waited for the answer though she began to hear a faint whispering around her.

"It's because of me," answered someone knew to Maleny, at least in her perspective. Her head raised to the balcony to see Klaus standing there, looking at a cross between anger and fear. He was doing his best to keep his feet locked in his spot and not going for Maleny. Seven years. Seven years since he last saw her in person and now...here she was. Her big, shiny blue eyes and pretty blonde hair continued to be his favorite (physical) things about her. The things within her, well...what he most missed was how she always had an aura of innocence that somehow made her see _him_ as someine worthy to be loved by her. He didn't get how it worked but he was eternally grateful for it. She always had the best way of seeing him. Even when he was an outright monster, she would give him the warmest, kindest eyes.

And right now, she was looking at him like he was a complete stranger. There was nothing inside them, no love...nothing.

"Klaus? You're here…" Maleny cleared her throat, unsure how to take his presence. In her mind, he'd never directed a word to her. It was almost as if he didn't even like her.

Klaus closed his eyes for a second, willing himself to do the right thing and get her out. When he opened his eyes again, he had his best "evil" face as Marlenie once remarked. "Yes," even his voice had turned cold towards Maleny, something she picked up on rather fast. "My son is missing and so is the mother of my other child. You, however, have nothing to do here-"

"_Dad_-" Hope began, offended on behalf of Maleny, and even more irritated he was pulling _that_ sort of trick on Maleny.

Klaus knew it but he forced himself to continue. He could hear the Hollow inside his head, louder than ever, ordering him to get to Maleny. "We have the witch in my sister and a hybrid present. Thank you, now go."

Maleny blinked rapidly as she processed his rude behavior. "I...I only came to help-"

"-and I just explained to you how unnecessary you are around here. Grab some sunglasses and get back to your comfortable beach."

Freya shook her head but did not scold her brother. She knew what he was doing and actually applauded him for the will inside him. He was _trying_. "Mal, let's go outside. We can talk there."

"You needn't be so rude," Maleny still had her own go at Klaus. "You may have turned me but I am not here to obey you. Hayley and Nicolas are missing so like it or not I am here to _stay_. So get that through your head. And the next time you yell at me, I'll give you a taste of what type of hybrid _I _am."

Inside, Klaus almost smirked as the fire came to her eyes. Though innocent, she was not the same village girl who let things go. If she was crossed, you would know. And he loved that about her _so_ much.

Freya rushed Maleny out of the compound, throwing Hope a look in the process. Once alone, Hope turned to her father again. "Did you have to do that?"

"You mean fix _your_ errors that could cost Maleny's life?" Klaus' snap made her wince. "Of course I had to. You have been incredibly irresponsible bringing Maleny here, Hope!"

"I had to do something to get you both in the same city!" Hope exclaimed.

"Your _mother_, your _brother_!" Klaus reminded her of the high stakes she'd pulled for this game. "You attacked them-"

"I did not attack them!" Hope frowned. "They're both fine. I put them in really nice coffins. I cloaked them in sleeping spells that I wrote myself."

"Oh, well, in that case, I've never been prouder!" Klaus sarcastically went. "Where are they, Hope!?"

"You're just gonna go disappear again if I tell you," Hope shook her head. "I'm not having that."

"Hope, the Hollow will take any victim it can get to and I don't want to put you in danger!"

"The only one in danger is aunt Mal and she's already here so it doesn't matter!"

"We could be putting others in danger, too-"

"-I don't care-"

"This is not a debate, Hope!"

The argument between father and daughter echoed in the streets for anyone vampire. Maleny could only gasp after she learned exactly what happened with Hayley and Nicolas. "I can't believe Hope would do something like this."

"Oh, no, she's, uh, right on schedule," Freya gave a light shrug of her shoulders. "My teenage temper tantrums involved birds falling out of the sky and entire villages burning. Nicolas was the same even though his age was sped up. So... family tradition."

Maleny's face was comical. "Well, I'm glad I never had any children with your family."

Freya almost choked on her own saliva. _Oh, Maleny_.

"So what happens now?" Maleny came to a stop on the street, turning so that she was in front of Freya. "I'm sure it's just a matter of talking to Hope-"

"Mm, I don't think so," Freya shook her head. "Hope did all this to get the family back together-"

"-understandable, for a child," Maleny gave a light smile. "Why aren't you guys together, Freya? Elijah's in some desolate town and Rebekah's somewhere grieving over her break up with Marcel, last time I heard from Cami. And Kol never even gives a peep that he's alive."

"It's... complicated," Freya left it at that. "And dangerous. Which is why you can't stay here."

"There we go again! Why do you keep saying that?" Maleny began to frown at the repetition. "I would sort of get this from Klaus but you? What did I do?"

Freya looked around and noticed how several people, specifically the Quarter witches, were giving them - specifically Maleny - suspicious glances. They were beginning to notice Maleny's arrival. Freya wanted to lie and say that Maleny did nothing wrong, but she knew it wasn't true. Maleny couldn't remember the past, for her it was freedom and bliss.

"The city is on the brink of war yet again. We don't need collateral damage," Freya cautioned Maleny to stay with her as a group of witches walked past them.

Maleny stared at the trio of women who kept a rather cold glare on her. "Why are they looking at me like that?" She didn't even know the women!

"No reason," Freya hurried her along the street but Maleny took notice of more similar glances she was getting from all types of people.

~0~

"The little girl I knew would never have dreamed up a scheme like this," Klaus was back to pacing in front of Hope.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you. But that little girl hadn't read your memoirs," Hope's admission made Klaus stop for a moment. The teen crossed her arms, not backing down at all. "You compelled aunt Cami to write your story. About a guy who used to put his family members in coffins and use them as leverage."

"So you've studied my old tricks. Did you learn this one?" Klaus startled her when he sped up to her, putting his hands on her head to search her mind. "They're at St. Anne's."

"Get out of my head!" Hope ordered, causing a small burst of energy to force him away. "And you are not leaving until I say so!" she commanded every window and the door to close and lock up.

"Hope, for the love of God, let this go! I'm sorry things are like this but I can only make sure you are safe if we're far away from each other-"

"I don't want that! I'm tired of this life, Dad. I want my family back," she let her head hang in shame, an all too familiar motion Klaus recognized. "I want to make things right. I want...I want to fix things."

"Hope, I understand your intentions were good but...but we can't. I can't be near you, nor Nicolas or...Maleny. I just can't."

Hope looked up with teary eyes, a sad smile across her face. "Things shouldn't be like this. It's my fault they're like this-"

"-never," Klaus cut her off, his voice final. "This is not your fault."

"It is. And I haven't even done anything to fix things," Hope exhaled a shaky breath. "Aunt Mal sacrificed herself so that the Hollow wouldn't reach Nick or I. Now Nicolas knows more advanced magic so he searches day and night for a spell that can allow him to seal the Hollow away. Sometimes I catch him in his office really late at night, sleeping over a grimoire. He's hurt. And Marlenie doesn't even speak to him nor me, nor anyone in the family. She's probably mad that her family is apart again. And then you and aunt Mal can't see each other. You can't see me or Nick and...and I can't pull my weight to help anyone."

It was then that Klaus realized this whole ordeal was about Hope intending on _helping_ the family to ease her guilt. She was an extraordinary witch in training but at the end of the day, she was _just_ a witch in training. A spell to seal the Hollow away for good required a powerful, skilled witch like Freya, Nicolas or Abigail. Hope was a fifteen year old girl.

"Hope, sweetheart, listen to me," Klaus tool cautious steps towards her. "You are not meant to burden yourself with our problems. Each one of us made our decision - we never intended on making you feel guilty for anything."

"I want to help you," Hope sniffled. "I want to help like Nick and aunt Freya. I want Marlenie to speak to us again. I want aunt Mal to remember you."

"This idea of yours was dangerous from the start, Hope. You shouldn't have done this-"

"-it was the only thing I could come up with!"

"I'm sorry," Klaus felt like a broken record repeating his apologies. It was the only thing he could offer her besides a distant love. "But you know what? I know that Marlenie is not mad at you, she's like me - she prefers to distant herself to cope. But she loves you. And Nicolas knows you want to help but he also knows that you're still young and you shouldn't be working with such dangerous spells. And you know something else?" his lips stretched into a wide smile. "Your aunt Mal would want nothing more than for you to just be a girl living a good life."

Hope tried to contain her sniffles to minimum, but the feelings bested her. When she burst into sobs, Klaus couldn't help himself. He needed to hold her and comfort her.

~ 0 ~

While Freya was probably going crazy somewhere out in the quarter, Maleny walked up to a vintage-looking voodoo shop. She remembered Nicolas mentioning it a couple times so she hoped it was the right one. She pushed open the door and jingled the beed curtains on her way in.

There was a brunette woman focused on a book at the counter, but when she heard the bead curtains swishing she quickly shut it and put it underneath where no one would see it. Maleny smiled, knowing that'd been a grimoire, but her smile was short lived when she noticed the woman's red, puffy eyes. She'd clearly been crying for a while now.

"So sorry," the woman rubbed away the tear stains on her face, "What can I do…" she trailed off upon seeing Maleny. "It's you…"

The blonde vampire frowned. This was the same reaction she got at Rousseau's too when the bartender, now Josh, saw her coming up to the bar counter. That prompted Maleny to skip her drink and leave.

"Do you know me?" Maleny finally asked the woman.

The woman cleared her throat and adopted a polite smile that Maleny didn't believe one bit in. "N-no, I...I just didn't…"

Maleny walked up to the counter and stared at the woman with a straight face. She could hear the woman's heart pounding in her chest and wondered if this was out of fear or nervousness. "Do you know me?"

The woman's chocolate brown eyes flickered to the side as if wondering what she should say. Maleny sighed with annoyance, but for the sake of her assignment - which she took upon herself - she moved on. "Look, I know you're unofficially dating Nicolas Mikaelson so you must know by now that he's missing." The woman froze, but her heart seemed to skip a beat at the mention of Nicolas. "I forgot your name, so...can you tell me or are you not going to tell me that either?"

"Zara, ma'am," the words just blurted from the young woman's lips. From her perspective, she was meeting the mother of her unofficial boyfriend who didn't even know she was the mother of Nicolas.

Maleny's lips twitched into a smile. "You don't need the ma'am thing. So, Zara...do you know why I'm here?"

"I can...honestly say no," Zara's voice was hushed despite there being no one in the store but them.

Maleny's smile widened a bit more. "You do remember that Nicolas is missing right? I just - I just said that…"

"Um, well...yes, but…" Zara fiddled with her fingers over the counter, "...I'm not...I'm not technically supposed to really know. I-I mean, not that I'm not supposed to know but-but I can't…"

Maleny saw that the stammering woman wasn't really going to be able to finish that statement so she just saved Zara by cutting in. "I understand the witches are doing what they can to help, but most of them are down at the cemetary. Why aren't you?"

Zara gestured to the empty store. "It's my shift. Besides, they have the most skilled witches on the job."

"You look pretty skillful to me. You hid that grimoire pretty fast for someone who seems to have been crying for quite a while."

Zara looked down as if in shame.

Maleny examined the woman who, so far, seemed to be rather shy. "You know, I never really understood this whole 'unofficial' boyfriend/girlfriend thing but...on further thought, I'm going to go on a guess and say no one really knows about you two…"

Zara looked back up with widened eyes. "I-it's complicated!" How could she put into words that Nicolas wanted to put off telling both their families about their relationship until Nicolas' parents were back together? _Was_ there a way to put it into words?

"Why? Every time I get a call from Freya, Hayley or Hope, it sounds like the Quarter is enjoying blissful peace. There's no rule that witches and a Mikaelson can't date is there?"

Zara's mouth opened twice and shut. "It's...it's just that we want to find a right moment to. I'm sure you know that Mikaelsons are not really, um…"

"Beloved in this place?" Maleny finished with a soft laugh. "Yeah, I know. I just thought that was over since Nicolas isn't really a vampire, so…"

"I do care about him, and I know he cares for me too...which is why I'm going crazy trying to find him with a spell," Zara sighed and pulled out the grimoire she'd been looking at earlier. "And yet, no such luck."

"Yeah, Freya had the same bad luck," Maleny looked around the store, noticing how Zara's stare was just glued onto her no matter what she did. "I thought that you perhaps would be able to help."

"I would do anything to help if I could," Zara quickly said. "I just don't know what to do. Whoever took him put a good cloaking spell on him and-"

"-yeah, Hope is a very skilled witch like that..._I_ can't even break it," Maleny's words stunned Zara.

The brunette woman blinked rapidly for a couple of seconds before she spoke again. "H-Hope? Hope Mikaelson did this to him? But...but they're siblings!"

"I don't know the exact story but she did this as a way to get her father to come back and see her. I don't know why she pulled me into this…"

Zara silently watched Maleny fiddle with some trinkets in a vase on the counter. Zara knew why; Nicolas was always grim whenever he thought about his separated parents. Hope probably assumed she would be helping Nicolas in the process.

"Anyways," Maleny pulled the witch back into the present, "You think you and I can help each other out a bit?"

"W-with a spell?" Zara blinked in surprise. "You want _me_ to help?"

"Yeah, you're a witch...I'm a witch - partly anyways - so why not?"

Zara's expression was indescribable at the moment, which was what made Maleny more suspicious. There was something the woman - along with everyone else - was keeping from her. Maybe Zara would be more kind and let her in on the secret.

~ 0 ~

"What do you mean you _lost_ her!?" Klaus' shout was now directed at Freya in the courtyard. Against her wishes, both had sent Hope to her room to pack because she would be returning to school immediately.

"She's not a child, Klaus, I can't keep Maleny from leaving!" Freya huffed at his incessant shouting.

"This place is dangerous for her! Everyone knows who she is-"

"-yeah, believe me, I know that. And to be honest...I think she started to figure it out too," Freya crossed her arms. "She noticed some of the looks she was getting from people. I think that's why she skipped out on me."

"Freya, we can't let her stay," Klaus didn't think this needed to be discussed. Many people learned of Maleny Rowan's unique presence and anyone who knew she didn't have her memories was prime to take action against her. "She needs to go back to her-"

"It's too late, Klaus. Abigail is on her way and I doubt Maleny will leave until she knows Nicolas and Hayley are safe."

"Then it's good news that we know where they are," Klaus took lead towards the streets. Freya hurried after him but the conversation wasn't over.

"I think we should discuss what should happen in case you and Maleny stay," Freya warned but Klaus shook his head at the idea.

"We don't because it's not happening. As soon as we get Nicolas and Hayley, I'm gone again. This is what our lives are and we can't do anything about it," Klaus said it with absolutely no hope that Freya felt overwhelmingly sorry for him. She'd promised him she'd work hard to find a spell that would let their family be together again, but here they were seven years later with no such progress.

When the two arrived at St. Ann's, they headed up the staircase for the room in which Nicolas and Hayley were kept in.

"You should prepare yourself to take down that cloaking spell," Klaus warned as he led the way upstairs. "Hope was practically boasting about that and a sleeping spell."

Freya smiled a bit. "You should have heard Nicolas when we were with Dahlia - he was always saying to me he'd find a way to turn her into stone."

Klaus smirked with nothing but pride. "That's my son."

He pushed open the door of the room, only to find it stuck on some rubbish on the other side. With more force, he broke the door off its hinges and came to an ugly scene. There were indeed two coffins but the room was destroyed. Tables turned over, broken, along with the other furniture in the room.

"Oh my God," Freya crinkled her nose at all the blood in the room.

Klaus panicked. He went to the first coffin which already had its top blown off. Inside there was even more blood and wolf claws against the wood. "Hayley!? Nicolas!?" The sound of a dim heartbeat pulled his attention to the second coffin which seemed to be about the only thing left untouched in the room. He sped over and yanked the lid off to find Nicolas still sleeping inside, seemingly unharmed. "Freya!"

~ 0 ~

Hope was right outside Nicolas' bedroom when her father and aunt returned from the church. She was rather confused to only find Nicolas with them and not her mother. It wasn't until Klaus told her what they'd found that she gathered some sense.

"This can't be right, I protected them _both_!" Hope peeked through the cracked open door to see Freya working on undoing the sleeping spell on Nicolas. "I wrote the perfect cloaking spell, I kept them safe. I...I don't understand."

Klaus hated to be the one to tell her what they'd found, he really did. "Hayley's coffin was destroyed. Whatever happened to your mother didn't happen without a fight."

"A fight that didn't include Nicolas," Hope was left to wonder just why Nicolas was spared. She was grateful for it but it didn't answer any questions at the moment.

"Look, I know it wasn't your intention for someone to get hurt. I know you did this because we left you with no choice," Klaus set a hand on her shoulder, ignoring the heightened whispers in his head. "Sweetheart, look at me. This... this is our fault. We're going to fix it, I swear."

"How?" Hope looked him in the eyes. "Between you and aunt Freya you're going to fix everything? I've made a mess and I want to clean it up."

Klaus shook his head. "I've already spoken to Alaric. You'll go back to Mystic Falls tonight. I need to know you're safe. And, provided that Nicolas wakes up well, he'll help too."

"...and aunt Mal?" Hope knew that the blonde vampire hadn't returned since Klaus kicked her out. "If something went after my mom, how do we know it's not coming back for us?"

"I-I will find her, and we'll make sure that she's safe in her own home," Klaus made that promise to her and himself. Seven years of long distance would not go to waste, no.

Freya walked out the room that moment, sheepishly looking at the two. "The sleeping spell is undone but Nicolas is still going to need a couple hours to get better."

"But he'll be okay, right?" Hope anxiously peered around Freya to see her older brother still with his eyes closed.

"Yes," Freya answered for both her and Klaus' sake. "I'll need to go back to St. Ann's to see if any spells could give us any clues of what happened."

"Thank you," Klaus told her and moved away so that Freya could leave. He then went into the bedroom with Hope to see Nicolas.

Nicolas slept soundly in his bed, but the promise that he would wake up relieved his family. Hope rushed to his side and gave him a sloppy hug. "I'm so sorry, Nick. I didn't mean to hurt you. I-I just wanted to fix things."

Klaus watched from the foot of the bed. His heart ached for the two of his kids, while another part of him yearned for Maleny and Marlenie to be with them. He missed all of them, along with his family, and he would do anything to get them back.

Even if it was just for a little bit…

~0~

There was soothing jazz music playing in the town square when Klaus arrived. His eyes gazed over the familiar setting he hadn't seen in seven years. Everything remained the same despite the time.

The whispers in his head were heightened.

He didn't have to search much to spot a blonde sitting at a public bench. She was sitting with her legs crossed, one arm over the bench's top and her cheek resting over her hand. He made himself walk towards the bench even though the whispers were getting louder.

Without ever moving, Maleny sensed the approaching visitor. Her eyes narrowed on the jazz musicians, though her interest wasn't exactly on them anymore. "You know, in seven years I don't think I've ever heard music like New Orleans plays. It's one of the things I miss from this place." She uncrossed her legs and shifted on the bench to see Klaus coming around. Her bitter smile was a warning she was still getting over his rudeness from earlier. "So imagine how..._surprising_ it is to have so many people in the Quarter give me dirty looks."

The only person she could think who hadn't given her the same looks was Zara, and that was only because it was expressions of nervousness that the young witch gave her. Maleny thought the witch was pretty harmless after spending an afternoon with her. While neither woman made progress to find Nicolas and Hayley, Maleny could see that Zara was a kind woman.

"People brand you as a Mikaelson and that unfortunately does not give you the best of attention," Klaus' voice pulled her back to the present.

Maleny didn't buy his excuse, in fact it only seemed to irritate her more. "Please, you may not like me but don't ever insult my intelligence." She looked back to the musicians, though she wasn't listening to them much anymore.

Klaus swallowed hard and cautiously sat at the edge of the bench. The whispers were bombarding his mind and he thanked God - or Abigail - that Maleny couldn't hear the whispers. Abigail made a complicated spell to keep Maleny's mind abliss from the whispers plaguing the Mikaelson siblings.

"What do you want, Niklaus?" her sharpness made the man wince. It was cold and angry, two emotions she'd rarely used on him. "If you're worried about me coming back to the compound rest assured I received your message loud and clear. I wouldn't want to be the reason Hope doesn't see her father."

"I'm...sorry," Klaus spoke slowly, putting his hands together. He kept his eyes trained on the musicians because if he looked at Maleny he wouldn't be able to keep his distance. "I was upset over Nicolas' and Hayley's disappearances."

"You're apologizing? The great Niklaus Mikaelson apologizing to someone? That's a story for the headlines. I don't expect you to like me, nor for you to apologize, but I do want to make it clear that until Nicolas and Hayley turn up I am _not_ going anywhere." There was a light shift in the air and suddenly Maleny had pinned Klaus against a wall, "Now you may hate me, you may not want me around but I am here to stay. So if you try any tricks to get to me to leave you'll have me as an enemy too. And just so we're clear, there are no cures for _my _abilities."

Her threat was meant with full force. Klaus knew that and it just pained him. Besides that, he was intoxicated with her closeness. This was the first time he had her so close in seven years. Her scent filled the air around them. It brought back the memories of situations that he would really like to repeat.

But the whispers were excruciatingly loud.

There was a scream in the town square that made Maleny let go of Klaus to turn around. Her eyes landed on the fountain that spilled blood into its contents. People noticed it and were scared as they watched it. As Maleny stepped forwards, she felt something coming up her throat.

She clasped a hand around her neck when the clawing turned into a lump that wasn't going away. Her loud, violent coughing caught the attention of nearby civilians but Klaus swept her away from the scene. He took her to a nearby alley and thought of what to do to help her. She was coughing for air, choking on whatever was in her throat but he couldn't understand what.

"Mal!? I'm going to take you to Freya-"

Maleny waved one of her hands, but he couldn't tell if it was her way of ordering him to shut up or if it was a cry for help. Suddenly she threw her head down as if she was throwing up, but in reality she was letting a _snake_ out of her mouth. Both she and Klaus stared with wide, stunned eyes at the swiveling snake on the ground with wide.

"Wh-wh-what just happened?" Maleny's voice shook as did her entire body. Her eyes were glossy when she looked up at Klaus. He was guilt-ridden.

"This is why we can't be under the same roof," he whispered, but was heard perfectly. "I don't hate you, Mal. In fact, you will never understand just how much I care for you."

"I-I don't - I don't understand-"

Klaus helped her get back on her feet but he immediately took steps away from her. Maleny breathed hard, her eyes never straying from his.

"Go back to the compound, okay? Nicolas is there. I'll go find Hayley," Klaus offered her a bit of a smile before speeding off.

Maleny used the brick wall to keep herself on her feet. Her breathing became heavier as she processed what happened. The snake was still slithering somewhere but she just couldn't understand why this happened. What the hell was going on?

* * *

**Author's Note:**

The Coronavirus shut down has brought me back to this story. Work's been cancelled for a week and I had a dream last night about these two for some reason. Anyways, here I am hoping to finish this story once and for all!

**P. S:** I have created a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.

**For the review:**

**CJ/OddBall**: There's more to Julius I promise! And don't worry about it, glad to have you around for this last story! I got sidetracked myself as you can see! Oh totally, Julie Plec had no idea how to end this story - personally I think she stopped figuring things out since Cami's death - so she just slapped some things together for the finale and said 'here you go!'. Klaus will _not _die in my story, no way!


	4. Bonds of the Mind

News that the new hybrid had been murdered ran fast through the Quarter. It also was in part due to him being publicly hanged in a building that sped up the process. It came just before the news that Hayley was missing. And with that, Klaus made one timely call from a busy street.

"You want me to...tell him? Everything?" Cami couldn't believe what she was hearing, but this didn't shy Klaus away.

"Clearly, you're going to need a witch to undo the spell. I suggest Amarrah Collins since she also lives in France and is about one of the few witches that we can still trust," Klaus kept it straight forwards with her.

"Klaus, this isn't something you can just whip out," Cami sighed on the other end of the line. "Elijah doesn't know he's a Mikaelson, nor that he has a literal bloody past. I can't break that."

"You're going to have to. Hayley is missing, Maleny is here and the entire Quarter is on the brink of war yet again. Do it," he gave the final order then hung up. He focused his attention on the nearby chatter of witches and headed straight for them.

It was nearing Mardi Gras and all the factions, though divided, were in the process of creating their floats. It was there that Klaus met with Vincent to discuss the disappearance.

"I am telling you that it was not one of ours who took Hayley," Vincent shut Klaus' suspicions the moment the hybrid mention word of it.

"You witches always plead virtue, but if history's to be prologue, you're the most rotten of the bunch."

"As soon as Freya told me that Hayley had gone missing, there were a dozen of us witches out there on them streets performing locator spells, trying to find her! Because Hayley is actually a friend to us, okay? Hayley, unlike you, has earned our respect. And out of respect to her, I'm only gonna say this to you one time, Klaus: we had absolutely nothing to do with her disappearance."

This made no effect on Klaus as he came back with, "And yet it's not uncommon for witches to hold a grudge. Let's not forget that while Hayley has redeemed herself she's slaughtered her fair share of Quarter witches in the past. Any one of lingering resentment is enough for a witch to get clever. So I suggest if you want peace and prosperity you do everything to find her." He parted with that warning, mentally marking off the first faction he would be dealing with this morning.

~0~

Abigail Rowan never moved as fast as she'd done in the last day. After discovering where her daughter had gone off to, she first cast a cloaking spell to protect her daughter since the first one she cast was only meant to keep Maleny hidden in the beach. Afterwards, she spelled her way through an airport all the way to New Orleans. Now as she crossed through the Quarter, she nervously came in front of the compound - she hadn't seen it in seven years.

"Freya?" she hurriedly went inside, the sound of her baggage wheeling behind her. "Freya! Freya, where the he-" she came to a slow stop upon spotting her daughter sitting at a lone table in the middle of the courtyard.

Maleny held a glass of bourbon in her hand, but when her mother appeared she put it down to the table and spoke in such a cold tone that it froze Abigail in her spot. "Mother, we have much to speak about."

Abigail stayed where she was, examining her daughter for any physical injuries. Maleny faced her mother with the same flash of anger Abigail used to see in her late husband. Even if the man was god awful, Maleny was still his daughter.

"You shouldn't have left like that, Maleny," Abigail's statement was cut off by Maleny's loud, unamused laugh.

"N-n-n-n-no, wrong! You are _wrong!"_ Maleny ended up shouting, startling the older blonde. "You started wrong."

"Maleny, you're-"

"-upset? Yeah, just a little," Maleny sarcastically finished for her. "You know what else I am? _Confused,"_ she spat the word out as she got up from her chair. "Do you know what happened yesterday?"

Abigail dreaded to know.

"Niklaus kicked me out of the compound, people in the Quarter seemed to be afraid or angry with me, and…" she came around the table and took a seat at the edge of it, "...oh yeah, I coughed up a bloody _snake_ from my mouth!" Maleny's anger resurfaced just at the memory of the slimy snake in her throat. "A _snake,_ mother! And all Klaus told me was that this was the reason he couldn't be under the same roof as me."

Abigail bit her lip with nervousness. "He shouldn't have said anything…"

Maleny incredulously stared at her. "Seriously!? _That's_ what you're going to say?"

With a sigh, Abigail left her baggage and walked up to Maleny. "Maleny, we need to leave. This place is dangerous-"

"-and full of secrets by the looks of it," Maleny pushed Abigail's hands off her arms. "Starting with you and this family. I always thought Klaus hated me and that's why he never spoke to me, now I'm assuming part of his distancing was because of...whatever this is!"

"Maleny, listen to me, you can't stay here," Abigail desperately said as Maleny moved away from her. "It's dangerous!"

Maleny rolled her eyes and moved around Abigail. "That's not going to cut it, mother. You have a lot of explaining to do."

Abigail knew if she explained things it wouldn't end well. There were many things that were erased from Maleny's mind besides her kids and her love. They were hurtful things, things that could break her. She turned around and resorted to plead with Maleny again. "We need to return to Guayabitos at once."

"Are you not listening?" Maleny spun around and faced the woman. "Hayley is missing! I cannot and will not leave until she is safe and sound."

"Klaus can take care of it-"

"-or must be something big for you to not care that someone we consider family is missing," Maleny moved closer to her mother, being face to face allowed for a better study of Abigail's nervous expression. "Just what are you hiding, mother?"

Abigail sighed, her mouth opening and closing too many times to keep up her innocent charade. Maleny shook her head and turned to leave. "Feel free to stay, or not, I don't care." Her voice echoed in the compound as she left the building.

~0~

Nicolas was fixing his hair in front of a mirror when someone knocked into his bedroom. "Come in," he said while he tried to tame an incessant curl right at the top. He stopped when he saw his grandmother coming into the room. "Grandmother," he grinned.

Abigail smiled softly at him. "Hi sweetheart. I'm happy to see you're up and well."

Nicolas turned around and gave a weak shrug of his shoulders. "It's conditional but...I guess I'm doing a lot better than Hayley at the moment."

Abigail gave a nod. "I understand Niklaus is out searching for her as we speak."

"Yeah, Dad…" Nicolas sighed and leaned against the armoire. "I saw him in the morning for like...five minutes until he excused himself from the room." Abigail watched sadly as her grandson took in his situation yet again. "I also know Mum's here but I haven't really spoken to her."

Abigail knew it must be incredibly painful for him to see Maleny and yet have her see him as nothing more than a brother. "And yet…" she tried to raise his spirits a bit, "...here you are-" she walked up to him, making him smile when she finally forced his stray curl to stay down, "-all cleaned up and dressed to go out."

Nicolas shared a blip of a smile with her. "Thanks, I've struggled with that curl for twenty minutes. I got Dad's hair unfortunately."

Abigail chuckled. "You got a lot of your father's but fortunately you got a lot from Maleny as well."

"Speaking of Mum, she's gone again, isn't she?" Nicolas hated that she'd slipped from his view in the meanwhile he showered.

"Yes, unfortunately yes. She's set on staying here until Hayley is found."

"And when something gets into Mum's head, nothing can make it go away," Nicolas moved towards his bed where a nice black jacket was laid.

"But she can't be in the same city as Niklaus. She might not hear the whispers of the Hollow but it will not stop the other effects," Abigail warned, not that Nicolas forgot it.

"Then maybe we can find an alternative to temporarily allow them both in the city," Nicolas put on his jacket.

"I suppose so...but it's not safe having her seen by so many supernaturals," Abigail dreaded that the wrong person might find out about her memory and take advantage.

"Look, Mum isn't going anywhere and we all know that. The best thing we can do is take precautions to make sure she's safe during her stay," Nicolas said with resignation.

"She's asking questions, Nicolas. Niklaus must have spent too much time with her because she's raging over a snake crawling out of her mouth."

Nicolas paused and stared at her with wide eyes. "The effects must be suppressed for a while then."

"I'm supposed to do that on my own, then?" Abigail crossed her arms, eyeing her grandson with suspicion. "Where are you going?"

Nicolas sheepish smile reminded her of something Maleny would do. "It's just for a little bit, grandmother. Everyone knows I went missing so I want to make sure that...that someone knows... I'm back."

Abigail raised an eyebrow at him. "Someone? Like who?"

With a clear of his throat, he answered very quietly. "A woman…"

"This wouldn't be the woman mentioned a couple times before would it?"

Nicolas' smile spread. "Maybe…"

"Nicolas!"

"Oh grandmother, I work seven days a week in Mystic falls - two of those days and seven nights dedicated to grimoire research for the Hollow, so please... just give me an hour to see her." He walked back to her, towering over her with his height. "I know Zara must be worried."

Abigail's face was indescribable for a second but she ultimately gave in. "Zara? That's her name?"

"Yes, and I think you and Mum would really like her."

"She best prepare herself if she wants anything to do with the Mikaelsons," Abigail fixed the collars of Nicolas' jacket. "I'm sure she knows how...special you all are."

Nicolas chuckled. "She, uh, hasn't actually met any of the family yet. Well," he swayed his head, "Only Hope. And that's only because she followed me. Little sneak."

Abigail laughed softly. "Someone needs to keep an eye on you."

"I'll be back in one hour, I promise," Nicolas hugged her tight.

Abigail suspected he was more than used to limiting his own pursuits for his family, especially when he was needed like this. "It's okay. Freya and I will get a head start."

With a big grin on his face, Nicolas went on his way.

~0~

Zara Holland didn't expect to be visited yet again by Maleny. This time, however, the store was not alone.

"You are not welcome here," an older dark-haired woman declared the moment Maleny came into the store. Zara nervously looked between the two women.

The petite vampire raised an eyebrow at her, not seemingly affected by the rude greeting. "You know me?"

"Aunt Rose," Zara warned just as the woman opened her mouth. "Not a word."

Maleny's eyes flickered to Zara, even more suspicious now. "I am not in the mood to continue to be lied."

"And we are not in the mood to be threatened by yet another hybrid," Rose snapped, garnering Maleny's full attention again.

"Aunt Rose, please," Zara wanted to mediate some peace but her aunt was not in the same boat.

_"No,_ Zara," Rose kept her eyes trained on Maleny. "I will not have another one come and threaten me in my own store."

"But I haven't said anything," Maleny's adopted innocence was not believed for a second, though it did make the two witches nervous. They both knew the terror that was Klaus Mikaelson and though Maleny hadn't been known for as long as he was, they learned to fear Maleny Rowan in her own hybrid state.

Zara would not wait to see Maleny show her true anger. "Did you need something Miss Rowan?" She moved around the counter, discreetly giving her aunt a warning glance to stay quiet. "I haven't had success since…" she purposely trailed off and Maleny didn't miss the second glance she gave Rose, clearly not wanting to finish due to her presence.

"It's fine. I require you for something else," Maleny said then offered her fuming aunt a clean smile. "And I do not take no for an answer."

Rose didn't take her mission well. Without hesitation, she attempted to use magic on Maleny - a traditional aneurysm - but the blonde hybrid flicked her fingers to the side and returned the favor with a violent slam against a shelf. Bottles shattered over Zara's body as the woman fell to the floor.

"Aunt Rose!" Zara rushed to her aunt but Maleny sped her back against counter.

"Please, I know you don't harm people! Y-you're a kind woman-"

Maleny raised her head and backed off the woman. "And that is exactly why I require your assistance. You know about me, more than you lead on, and while the Mikaelsons are keeping secrets from me, _you_ won't do the same."

Before Zara could process, Maleny sped them out of the store.

~0~

"Well, you two seem comfortable," Klaus' comment pulled Abigail and Freya from their respective grimoires. The witches were sitting on the couch surrounded by grimoires Klaus doubted were all theirs.

"You realize my daughter could've been here," Abigail's scowl didn't faze Klaus.

"No, actually, because the whispers are rather quiet," he made a gesture to the side of his head.

"You realize how incredibly irresponsible you were by being in such close contact?"

"Very. But I learned my lesson. Do not give into temptation."

Freya slipped a bookmark into the selected page of her grimoire. "Don't worry, Abigail and I think we may have found a way for you and Maleny to be in close proximity without triggering the Hollow's power." Klaus didn't want to seem too interested but he just couldn't keep it going after seven years.

"This couldn't have come seven years ago?" Klaus couldn't help be just a tad bitter about their tardiness with such a spell.

Freya fixated a plain look on him. "This spell would only be temporary," she made sure to clarify for him. "We'd have at most a couple weeks if we're lucky."

"You're being generous," Abigail shook her head. "This is a situation we should not be in. Maleny should be far away from here, hidden away like we agreed."

"And yet we all know that's not happening until Hayley returns," Klaus wasn't the least bit surprised of the fight Maleny put in for her stay in the Quarter. As usual, she would fight for their family. "So instead of dwelling on it, how's about we do something to keep her safe. Like right now, where is she?"

"Out and about, where else?" frowned Abigail. "My daughter doesn't rest apparently."

"No one in the Quarter would hurt her," Freya assured them both. Vincent was wary of Maleny's presence but he ultimately agreed to remind the people that she was here on neutral terms just until they found Hayley.

"That doesn't mean she won't hurt them," Klaus said on a whim of thoughts. He earned himself a glare from Abigail but he stood by what he said. "We all know what happened seven years ago. The world does not forget and since the supernatural community lives a little longer, their grudges do too. They remember what she did and if given the chance, they will retaliate. She will fight back if she has to." And he wouldn't be sorry one bit. She would only be defending herself against those who foolishly believe they had a chance against her.

"Okay, well, this spell requires the two of you to be together in order for to establish the temporary link," Freya announced, though it soon brought upon a questionable look from Klaus.

"Link? You want to link us together?" he could see about a thousand problems with that idea. He and Maleny had no shortage of enemies between them.

"It wouldn't be your typical link," Freya eased his fears and Abigail's for that matter. The older witch was looking doubtful of the spell before even hearing it out. "This would be an illusion type of spell. Every time you're near each other, the Hollow would be tricked into believing that you weren't. The whispers, the power, it would all go to a totem instead."

"Do you have said totem?"

"Yeah, Vincent is more than happy to help keep the Quarter safe."

"Then...I shall go find Maleny," Klaus wouldn't show so quickly the glint of joy in his eyes. The prospect of being able to spend time with Maleny - even if it was just for a couple of weeks - was something he dreamed about at nights.

"You do that, then," Abigail nodded, not too happy about the plan but there wasn't much to do.

~0~

Zara nervously finished chanting a spell on the ground. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Maleny coming through two trees. The blonde was hard to read enough from the fact this was the first time Zara met her. Sure, Nicolas showed her - at one point - pictures of the Mikaelsons.

She'd seen pictures of his sister - his twin - who ran a fashion designing empire. She was beautiful, with raven hair and bright blue eyes, but Nicolas lamented the fact Marlenie never called anymore. She was, in that aspect, like Nicolas' father who took separation seriously. Out of everyone in the family, Marlenie Mikaelson had the fewest photographs in Nicolas' albums.

Pictures of the much feared hybrid, Klaus Mikaelson, were next to nothing as well. Nicolas told Zara he didn't get that much of a chance to spend time with his father. There were some records of his previous appearances in history. Zara knew all the stories of Klaus Mikaelson, learned to be afraid of the conniving man who breathed to murder. Still, Zara saw Nicolas in Klaus. Nicolas was a living copy of his father and yet Nicolas possessed a warmth that Klaus was rumored not to own. Nicolas, however, attested - vowed - that his father was a good father who loved his children. Zara believed it. Her coven wouldn't.

There was an abundant load of pictures of Maleny Rowan in Nicolas' album. The petite blonde remained the same in the last twelve years Nicolas spent with her. Her big blue eyes would stare at the camera with such joy that no one would ever figure she was a vampire with destruction at her finger tips. Zara was aware that Maleny didn't start out as a hybrid, she was a witch turned vampire who was then sought out by an ancient spirit because of the fact Maleny had lived and died for over a thousand years. The power inside her manifested to a load that no one else on the planet owned. Well, the Hollow wanted that power and she got it...for a while. Due to that, Maleny became a new type of hybrid who'd already made a bad reputation for herself early on. And yet, in the pictures Nicolas had, Maleny seemed like a kind, innocent woman who loved her family.

At this moment, however, all the nice things Nicolas said about his mother didn't fit with the woman in front of Zara. She was scared, rightfully scared, since Maleny brought her into a deserted part of the woods where even the wolves didn't go. It was a place that the Mikaelsons would know very well.

Though Maleny wouldn't remember the old plantation house she once visited with Rebekah and Hayley.

"I-I finished the cloaking spell," Zara announced, eyes following Maleny as the blonde crossed the foundation where the building used to stand.

"Good," Maleny stopped at the center of the foundation, staring down at it with a wistful look. "I would have cast it myself but my power seems to leave...a specific trace…" It was something she still couldn't understand but she chalked it off to the fact her magic derived from an ancient spirit and her own natural magic. Combined, her power seemed to be easily tracked by others. Abigail used it to find her whenever she disappeared from the hotel without notice.

Maleny raised her head to the sky and closed her eyes. Zara nervously stared until she felt the distinct use of magic around them. Maleny yelped all of a sudden and dropped to her knees with her hands on her head.

Zara picked herself up from the ground and rushed towards the blonde. "Miss Rowan, are you okay!?"

Maleny slowly opened her eyes after the pain in her head subsided. As Zara tried helping her stand, Maleny seized Zara's wrist and yanked her down. The brunette witch yelped and feared for her life at that moment.

"There _is...something_ my family's not telling me," Maleny confessed, leaving Zara to freeze for a second. "My head, I'm old, I've got a very big mind...and there are lot of locks." Zara blinked with confusion as Maleny continued to speak. "There isn't anyone who'll assure me that I'm-I'm wrong! There's no one who'd tell me what's wrong with me. Except you."

Zara had an idea of what Maleny meant. Nicolas didn't tell her exactly what happened to his mother, nor his family for that matter, but she has the just that between Nicolas, his aunt and grandmother they'd erased Maleny's memory and implanted new memories in her head.

"I-I couldn't…" Zara barely got to say when Maleny pulled her closer.

"You're a good witch, you care which is why you haven't tried escaping yet…"

Zara weakly smiled. She knew better than to fight off a hybrid, much less a woman who was airtight with the Mikaelsons.

"I'll apologize to your aunt, but I just really need your help," Maleny finally got back on her feet. She pushed her hair behind her shoulders and stood straight. "I need to unlock whatever is sealed in my head."

"I don't know if I can do that, Miss Rowan. Your magic is very different from mine."

"Whatever has been done to me, my magic cannot absolve it. It's as if it's been made sure that my magic couldn't interfere," Maleny bitterly confessed. She just knew her mother was behind this and it pained her to believe that her mother would never willingly give into the truth. "I am asking you to help me. Now I can ask the nice way, or I will ask the harder way." Her narrowed eyes gave no sign of bluff.

Zara knew better than to antagonize a pseudo-Mikaelson.

~0~

Freya carefully drew a white circle on the ground, around a smaller circle table where Abigail was setting a wooden totem with ancient marks on it. Thanks to Vincent, they were well on their way to casting the illusion spell.

"Grandmother! Aunt Freya!" the two women began to hear Nicolas' frantic shouts.

"Nicolas?" Abigail moved around the table just as Nicolas hurried into the backroom. His neat appearance from earlier was exchanged for a disheveled, fearful one. "What's wrong?"

"Mum took Zara!" Nicolas rubbed his face with frustration. He'd found Zara's store empty but with crashed tables and one sore aunt Holly. When he helped the woman came to, she told him what happened and what most likely happened to her niece.

"What? Why would she do that?" frowned Freya, unable to come up with a logical reason for this spontaneous kidnapping. "She doesn't even know who Zara is."

"Exactly why we need to find them fast!" Nicolas practically shouted, reminding the two women who his father was. "Mum's magic was still in the shop but I can't track her! Not even Zara!"

"Calm down, I was the one who put up the cloaking spell on Maleny so I can bring it down," Abigail's words were only somewhat relaxing.

"Mum's not right. She wouldn't kidnap someone for nothing, not even in her state!" Nicolas started pacing back and forth. "She wants something!"

Abigail didn't have to think too much to figure out what Maleny would be searching for. "Answers," her voice stopped Nicolas for a second. "Niklaus accidentally spent too much time near her and she coughed up the Hollow's snakes."

"She's going to try to undo the memory spell," Freya realized, her dread spiking in that one second.

"Can she do that?" Nicolas immediately asked.

"We put a fail-safe on the spell. Maleny's magic can't undo anything, but if she has this woman with her…" Abigail didn't doubt that some memories would be able to resurface.

"Zara's a powerful witch but she's never done anything like this," Nicolas wanted to reason that Zara would be safe, but his mother was unpredictable at the moment. "Mum might lose it and…"

"Maleny is not a danger," Abigail frowned. "We just need to find her and get her back here."

"Even if we do that, she's going to want her answers," Freya, the voice of reason, reminded them. The game was over, apparently. "And if we don't give it to her, she'll just find another witch."

~0~

_"You're not going!" Abigail shouted. "We're not finished here, Maleny!"_

_Maleny whirled around to face her mother, revealing an appearance readied to go out in the night. "I can do as I please, mother. How you found me is beyond me."_

_"Maleny, sweetheart, I'm just trying to help you-" Abigail attempted to walk up to her daughter to comfort her but Maleny pushed the woman away without a care for the mortal._

_"-if you've forgotten, mother, I didn't asked for it," Maleny made the gesture for Abigail to leave the bedroom. "I'm free to do what I want now. And I have so many plans for tonight." With red lips curled into a smirk, she moved around her mother towards the door, leaving a concerned Abigail behind._

Maleny snapped opened her eyes, forcing Zara to stop a second. "I don't remember that," Maleny mumbled in thought.

Zara nervously stepped away from the woman, watching her with concern. There were far too many memories to be retrieved from Maleny's mind - about a thousand years worth - so there was no way Zara would be able to completely do the spell. Still, Maleny hoped that the witch would at least be able to find the memory that would answer why she coughed up snakes because of Klaus.

"My mother was shouting at me and it didn't even look like I cared," Maleny stepped around Zara, making a couple steps towards the plantation's old foundation. "I always care when my mother shouts."

"Maybe we should go back, Miss Rowan," Zara still hoped Maleny would think things through and get them both back to the Quarter. "The wolves, they might still roam these areas sometimes."

Maleny turned sideways, her hair whipping with her. "You're worried about the wolves? Don't be. Last time I heard, Klaus has them searching for Hayley while the others mourn Henry's death. They're busy. Besides," she started coming back, instinctively making Zara retract one step, "they're smart. They know not to mess with me."

"You'd hurt your friend's pack?"

"Not really, just give them a scare. People in the Quarter already seem to be afraid of me," Maleny crossed her arms. "I don't exactly want to give them another reason why."

"They fear you because of what you are," Zara said quietly, deciding to hold back the story Maleny probably wouldn't like to hear. It was the same story that made Nicolas feel terribly guilty.

"In retrospect, I probably do have some...killer qualities," Maleny smiled to herself. "If they knew I spent my mornings practicing on the waves, they'd maybe back off."

"I saw that," Zara's words made Maleny blink with surprise, prompting Zara to explain fast. "I-it was during the memory spell. Doors open involuntarily." Maleny's nod helped her relax.

"I have spent seven years in Guayabitos, practicing and...enjoying a nice, peaceful life," Maleny looked past Zara towards the woods. "And yet two days here have me...anxious. There are...places, that I look at...and I feel a nag in my head. Like those woods," she moved around Zara again and nodded towards the woods up ahead, "I feel like there's a lot of things that happened there to me but I can't remember."

How was she supposed to remember in that moment how she'd been once kidnapped by Mikael, or held hostage by Finn and rogue Crescent wolves, or even when the Hollow took her body over? It was the reason why Zara was there. Maleny needed to know what was missing in her mind.

"Let's start again," Maleny gave the command.

~ 0 ~

"No, there's no sign of her yet," Klaus oversaw the townsquare for Maleny, not that he thought she'd be stupid to be out in plain sight during the day.

"You have to keep looking," Freya's warning voice made no effect on his search. Of course he was searching, what did she think he was doing?

"Yes, Freya, I understand the rush on this. Marcel already has some vampires searching for her but the witches are a bit more insatiable at the moment."

"Vincent is making sure they don't step out into danger either. You just have to find Maleny and the witch she took."

"Yes, I do wonder why she chose this specific witch. I heard there was an older one in the store - why not pick her?" Klaus would've thought the older the witch the better experience but Maleny didn't think in conventional terms.

"Dad?"

Klaus lowered his phone to see Nicolas coming towards him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I want to find Mum and Zara now," Nicolas didn't look phased as his father took steps away from him. "And if you say no, be prepared for a lengthy argument that involves magic."

Klaus raised an eyebrow at him, surprised by this boldness. "I can find your mother just fine."

"I know, but I also know that you won't think twice to snap Zara's neck to prevent Mum from getting her memories back," Nicolas withheld the suspicious stare of his father as best he could. He was not backing down from this.

Klaus watched his son with a degree of weariness and suspicion. "You know the bloody witch," he rolled his eyes.

"Don't call her that," Nicolas snapped.

The phone in Klaus' hand was still ongoing, and so he heard Freya calling to him with the location of Maleny. He knew perfectly well where it was. And since there was no way Nicolas was going to even consider staying back, Klaus reluctantly had to take him along. Still, it didn't mean Klaus was letting this witch business go.

"Her name is Zara Holland, she's part of the Algiers' covens," Nicolas explained while Klaus drove down the road towards the plantation house. "I, uh, met her through one of Vincent's meetings. I started going to her aunt's shop for ingredients…"

"And so I doubt you mentioned you were the son of the devil himself?" Klaus couldn't help the smirk that came to his face. Nicolas playfully rolled his eyes and looked out the passenger window. "It helps you were born to an angel mother…"

Nicolas snorted and actually laughed. "My mother is currently the one who kidnapped Zara."

"We both know she's not in her right mind," Klaus said, leaving a temporary air of silence between them. Both of them knew that Maleny, in her sane clear mind, would never kidnap an innocent person.

"I know," Nicolas said quietly after a moment. "Mum hasn't been herself in seven years." He left the other obvious statement out - no one in the family had.

Klaus quietly breathed in as the whispers in his head kept egging him to take action against Nicolas. Nicolas cast a spell meant to quiet the whispers in Klaus' head but it wasn't doing the complete job. Still, Klaus wouldn't say anything. This was the first time he'd seen his son in seven years.

"Zara knows who my parents are," Nicolas looked at Klaus with a small smile. "She just doesn't know why you're not together...nor why Mum can't really remember a lot of things."

"So if Maleny were to ask her to undo the memory spell...would she be able to?"

"...I don't think so. The spell was cast by three witches so it can only be undone by three."

"And exactly how mad do you think your mother will be when she realizes this?"

There were a few seconds of silence before the two exchanged the same exact smirks.

"I would not want to be in your shoes, Dad."

Klaus laughed. He honestly missed this.

~0~

"But please don't - d-don't! Please!"

There was a brief sound of a snap before a body dropped to the ground. Leather boots walked over the body in a confident stride.

Maleny's eyes snapped open, once again feeling the jab of pain at her head. "Why does it hurt!?"

"I'm sorry," Zara said as the woman paced back and forth. "It's a tough memory erase spell that...that's tied by very skilled witches."

Maleny stopped, a look of anger flashing across her face. "Like my _family!? They_ did this to me!?" Zara stuttered to give an answer, especially when she herself had no idea. Maleny angrily stalked towards her, forcing the witch to backtrack. "I want this undone and I want done now!"

"I-I can't! I'm not strong enough!"

Maleny flicked her fingers, causing Zara to scream in pain. "I don't want to keep going on like this. I need this undone!"

"I'll try but I can't promise to do it!" Zara scrunched her face in pain. "It's too strong of a spell! Please stop!"

"Woah, woah, woah!" a new voice came into the area. Before Maleny could realize, someone had come at her and held her back. "Well, Maleny, nice to see you again!"

Maleny tilted her head up to see Marcel. "Can't say the same, Marcel. How'd you find me?"

"Klaus made a call. Some of my guys and I were in the woods so he thought it best if we got here first," Marcel's smirk irritated Maleny. It didn't help that three of Marcel's vampires were appearing at the scene.

The blonde growled and tried moving against Marcel. When her strength proved useless, she used her magic to subdue him. As soon as he dropped to his knees, the other three vampires charged towards her. She snapped one's neck and dodged a direct punch her way from the second one.

"Don't hurt her!" Zara exclaimed as the tackled the blonde to the ground.

"Not a finger on her!" Marcel reiterated as he got back on his feet.

"Get your hands off me!" Maleny struggled against the vampires pinning her to the ground. Her eyes narrowed on the brunette looking far too happy with the situation. "Levta, levta, me!" The same brunette was thrown off her, across the open field.

Before she could work against the others, a new visitor pulled the second vampire off her. As Maleny sat up, she recognized the back of the visitor. He had the vampire against a tree before snapping their neck.

"Julius?" Maleny lifted an eyebrow at the man who seemed more than smug when he turned around.

"You're a tough one to find, Mal," he almost chuckled just before Marcel zipped towards him to snap his neck.

"Don't touch him!" Maleny ordered his hands off Julius, giving the man even more reasons to feel smug.

Marcel turned sideways, one hand still grasping Julius' shoulder. "You know him or what?"

Maleny wasn't going to dignify that since she hardly knew Marcel (in her mind). Plus, she heard the distinct sound of a car approaching. In less than a minute, Klaus and Nicolas had arrived at the scene.

"Zara!" Nicolas was the first to climb out the car.

The woman in question chuckled with relief. "I'm okay! I'm alright!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Maleny immediately demanded from Klaus. He took notice of the fearful step she retracted as he made his way towards them.

"I could ask the same thing, love," he smiled knowingly. "Quite the special place you've chosen for your kidnapping."

"I didn't kidnap, I borrowed," the blonde made a weak case for herself. "And yet I failed."

"She wants her memory back," she heard Zara whisper to Nicolas.

The glare Maleny threw to the two was one that made Nicolas fidget. "You bet your ass I do. I don't know what the hell you've done to me but I want it reversed _now."_

"I can't do that," Nicolas said quietly.

Maleny raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm sorry, that was not a request. That was an order. Unless you'd like me to show you how serious I am." She raised her pointing and index fingers of her two hands, causing a streak of powerful aneurysms to cross over each person."

"Maleny! Stop this!" Klaus growled through the pain.

"This may come as a shocker to you, Niklaus Mikaelson, but you do not get to tell me to back off," she spat an actual hatred against him that it forced a moment of falter in him. There was a coldness in her eyes reserved just for him that it crushed his already weakened heart.

It was like they were truly strangers.

"Alright, enough!" Marcel tried jumping on her but Julius tackled him down. The two brawled on the ground, much to the shock of Maleny.

As the other vampires Marcel brought along tried to join the fight, Maleny telekinetically snapped their necks. At the same time, Julius managed to slip from Marcel's grasp and zipped beside Maleny.

"Mal, these people are not your family," he settled a hand on her arm. That was enough to garner suspicious looks from Klaus and Nicolas. "Mikaelsons only look out for their own. That's always been the rule."

"Who the hell are you?" Klaus stepped forwards but he was suddenly met with another jab at his head via magic. This time, however, Nicolas and Zara noted that the attack wasn't being inflicted by Maleny.

It was Julius.

"Julius Palemor," the man lifted the spell off Klaus. "And at the moment, Maleny, I am the only one you can trust."

Maleny met his gaze with an unsure one, but the facts were coming into her head. There were memories missing from her head and they were caused by the Mikaelsons. Even her own mother had a hand in it.

"We have to go," Julius urged her to follow him.

"Mal, don't go," Klaus said, but he knew a lost fight when he saw one.

"You didn't want me anyways," she spat with utter resentment and sped off. Julius went with her not a second later.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

It's like every time I come back to this story I just write more angst than the last time ._. Maybe it's because it's the last story? I mean...sorry?

**P.S** As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.

**For the review:**

**Miya-nyaan**: I promise I'm drafting the story! I just get very distracted with other stories but this is a series I'm determined to end properly! And as for the relationship between Mal and Klaus...it's tetchy right now but of course we'll have fluff at some point, maybe some flirts...who knows ;).


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